Efficient electrocatalytic two-electron oxygen reduction over aminophenol formaldehyde resin-derived carbon microspheres

Abstract

The electrocatalytic 2-electron oxygen reduction reaction (2e-ORR) to hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) required cheap and efficient electrocatalytic materials. Herein cheap 3-aminophenol formaldehyde resin microspheres were synthesized at a large scale of about 15 g in one run. By annealing it, nitrogen-doped carbon spheres could be conveniently obtained, which was found to be efficient electrocatalyst for 2e-ORR with the highest H2O2 selectivity of about 94% at 0.4 V vs RHE. The electrolysis H2O2 production rate over N-doped carbon in 0.1 M KOH solution reached 48 mmol gcat-1h−1. Aminophenol formaldehyde resin-derived carbon provided a cheap and effective catalyst for electrocatalytic H2O2 production.