Enhanced two-electron oxygen reduction for hydrogen peroxide production via fine-tuning the concentration of oxygen vacancies in MoO3−x

Abstract

Producing hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) electrochemically is a possible alternative to industrial anthraquinone synthesis. Herein, α-MoO3−x catalysts with controllable oxygen vacancies for two-electron Oxygen Reduction (2e− ORR) electrocatalysis have been reported for the first time. Because of the finely tuned oxygen vacancy concentration of α-MoO3−x-400, it is particularly sensitive to the production of H2O2, providing very high selectivity in H2O2 production reaches as high as 93% with an average yield of 310 mmol gcat−1 h−1 over 12 h. In addition to providing us with the most abundant and attractive transition metal oxide (TMO) catalysts yet, this research provides a fresh approach to the rational development of effective TMO catalysts.