Direct Hydrogen Peroxide Synthesis on a Sn-doped CuWO4/Sn Anode and an Air-Breathing Cathode

Electrosynthesis of H2O2 from simultaneous water oxidation reaction (WOR) and oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) is a promising alternative to the traditional anthraquinone oxidation process. However, this approach suffers from sluggish kinetics and poor selectivity of the two-electron transfer WOR to H2O2. Most of the current reported metal oxide materials require a large overpotential (more than 1 V), and the H2O2 production rate is quite low (usually lower than similar to 5 mu mol min(-1) cm(-2)). In this work, a new anode material, CuWO4/Sn, has been developed to overcome these limitations. At an overpotential of only 0.74 V, a H2O2 Faradaic efficiency (FE) as high as 72% can be achieved for the 2e-WOR. By integrating this anode with the ORR at an air-breathing cathode, an overall FEcell of 161% is obtained here, with a theoretical FE as high as 200%. The integrated cell achieves a maximum H2O2 yield of 66 mu mol min(-1) at 140 mA. This design is of guiding significance for future efforts to obtain high value-added chemicals from two electrodes simultaneously.

Automated summary

This study developed a new CuWO4/Sn anode material to improve H2O2 yield and selectivity. By integrating with ORR, a high overall FEcell of 161% and a maximum H2O2 yield of 66μmol min(-1) were achieved.