Improvement of the Selectivity for Hydrogen Peroxide Production via the Synergy of TiO2 and Graphene

To replace the four-electron transferred pathway of oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) by two-electron transferred pathway of ORR (2e(-) ORR) is desirable for the production of hydrogen peroxide with added-value. The development of electrocatalysts with high selectivity toward 2e(-) ORR is of great interest but it is still a challenge. Here, we synthesized the graphene-supported titanium dioxide nanocomposite as the 2e(-) ORR catalysts by a combinative process of hydrothermal methods and calcination. Due to the synergistic effect between the graphene with high conductivity and the titanium dioxide with defect sites, the composite TiO2/graphene exhibits the improved selectivity (up to 90%) for oxygen converting into hydrogen peroxide.

Automated summary

Developing highly selective 2e(-) ORR catalysts has been challenging. In this study, we synthesized a graphene-supported titanium dioxide nanocomposite and achieved high selectivity (up to 90%) for converting oxygen into hydrogen peroxide.