Assembling Graphene Quantum Dots on Aminophenol-formaldehyde Resin towards Efficient Artificial Photocatalytic Hydrogen Peroxide Synthesis

Abstract

Artificial photocatalytic hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) production via metal-free catalysts has attracted increasing attention as an alternative strategy to inorganic photocatalysts because of their affordabilities, high stabilities, and safety. While the relatively low photocatalytic efficiency of these catalysts limits their practical application. In this work, graphene quantum dots (GQDs) were successfully loaded on aminophenol-formaldehyde polymer (APF-GQDs) through a straightforward modification method, which can catalyze the water oxidation reactions and oxygen reduction reactions for H2O2 generation. With the help of GQDs, APF-GQDs show a stronger light absorption capacity, narrower bandgap for exciton dissociation, and higher separation and transfer efficiency of photogenerated electrons than that of the pristine APF, which contributes to an excellent H2O2 synthesis (Apparent Quantum Efficiency, 12.9% at 420 nm and Solar-to-Chemical Conversion Efficiency, 1.14%). Our photocatalytic system remains a high activity (2361.8~2826.0 μmol·g-1) for solar-driven H2O2 in both pure O2 and air conditions even under harsh water environments (tap water, lake water, and seawater). Thus our study offers a new pathway for designing innovative catalysts for green chemical synthesis and environmental remediation.