The Still Elusive Role of Lightweight Doping in Carbon-Based Electrocatalysts for the Selective Oxygen Reduction Reaction to Hydrogen Peroxide.
Giulia TuciAndrea RossinZeinab SakiLucia CaporasoYuefeng LiuGabriele CentiGiuliano GiambastianiPublished in: ChemSusChem (2024)
The two-electron electrocatalytic oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) to hydrogen peroxide (H 2 O 2 ) is a valuable alternative to the more conventional and energy-intensive anthraquinone process. From a circularity viewpoint, metal-free catalysts constitute a sustainable alternative for the process. In particular, lightweight hetero-doped C-materials are cost-effective and easily scalable samples that replace - more and more frequently - the use of critical raw elements in the preparation of highly performing (electro)catalysts. Anyhow, their large-scale exploitation in industrial processes still suffers from technical limits of samples upscale and reproducibility other than a still moderate comprehension of their action mechanism in the process. This concept article offers a comprehensive and exhaustive "journey" through the most representative lightweight hetero-doped C-based electrocatalysts and their performance in the 2e - ORR process. It provides an interpretation of phenomena at the triple-phase interface of solid catalyst, liquid electrolyte and gaseous oxygen based on the doping-driven generation of ideal electronic microenvironments at the catalyst surface.
Keyphrases
- hydrogen peroxide
- highly efficient
- metal organic framework
- ionic liquid
- nitric oxide
- quantum dots
- visible light
- reduced graphene oxide
- transition metal
- room temperature
- risk assessment
- heavy metals
- high intensity
- gold nanoparticles
- electron transfer
- high speed
- molecularly imprinted
- tandem mass spectrometry
- liquid chromatography
- solid state