Hydroxyl combined with nitrogen on biomass carbon promotes the electrocatalytic H\(_{2}\)O\(_{2}\) selectivity

Abstract

Elevating the selectivity of two-electron oxygen reduction reaction (2e‒ ORR) is challenging. Herein, the hydroxyl combined with nitrogen on biomass carbon exhibits a high H2O2 selectivity over a wide potential range of 0 V to 0.5 V vs. RHE, which is nearly 97% at 0.3 V vs. RHE. The combination of hydroxyl and nitrogen improves the adsorption and desorption of intermediates, finally changing the reaction pathway and promoting the selectivity of 2e‒ ORR. The Faradaic efficiency (FE) reaches 98% at 0.3 V vs. RHE. Furthermore, the typical organic pollutants were degraded on site in flow cell. This work illustrates the potential of biomass carbon in 2e‒ ORR.