Polymerizable ionic liquid-derived N, S co-doped sp3/sp2 carbon as electrocatalyst for H2O2 generation.

Abstract

The H2O2 generation via the green electrochemical process is of high interest. For the H2O2 electrochemical generation, the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) is important. Unfortunately, the ORR is kinetically sluggish and catalysts are needed. However, noble metal ORR catalysts are pricy and scarcely applicable in applications. Therefore, non-precious metal catalysts are desired. Heteroatom-doped carbons show promise as metal-free ORR catalysts. The ORR catalytic activity will be enhanced by the carbon's sp2 and/or sp3 engineering. For N, S co-doped and sp2/sp3 modulated carbon, a polymerizable ionic liquid of hydrolyzed vinyl imidazolium was studied. The carbon is studied as a metal-free catalyst for the ORR via the 2e-process. It is possible to get an onset potential of 0.88 V vs. RHE with approximately 50% selectivity for the H2O2. The current study offers a simple technique for synthesizing heteroatom-doped sp2/sp3 designed carbon as catalysts for the electroreduction of O2 to produce H2O2, and a new way of tunning the sp3/sp2 carbon catalytic activity by modulating the ionic liquid.