Electrochemical Water Oxidation to Hydrogen Peroxide on Bipolar Plates

Abstract

The electrochemical production of hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) via 2-electron (2e–) water oxidation reaction (WOR) has gained colossal interest recently. Carbon materials are highly active for anodic H2O2 generation, particularly boron-doped diamond (BDD) electrodes. However, the cost of BDD is exceedingly high compared to basic carbon materials. Herein, we present a study of WOR on bipolar plates (BPP) as a low-cost alternative and stable electrode for generating H2O2 anodically. Three different commercial BPP with different polymer content were investigated, revealing an effect of the fluoropolymer content in the H2O2 generation. Our experiments show a stable production of H2O2 for up to 100 h at a current density of 200 mA cm–2, with a constant faradaic efficiency of 40% obtained with a BPP sample with high content of fluoropolymer. This work demonstrates how commercial carbon electrode materials, that can be produced at large scale and low cost, can selectively oxidize water to H2O2. This combination of high performance with scalable and cheap production of the electrode material enables the economically viable technical application of anodic H2O2 production.