Dependence of the Oxygen Reduction Selectivity to Hydrogen Peroxide on Hydrophilic Carbon Fiber Paper

Hydrogen peroxide is a vital product in industry due to its versatile applications, from environmental protection and manufacturing to healthcare and food safety. Hydrogen peroxide is used to sanitize water, food preparation surfaces, and medical equipment, as well as in the production of chemicals. The most common method for hydrogen peroxide production is the anthraquinone process, which necessitates large-scale plants and is energy intensive. Therefore, the accessibility of hydrogen peroxide production is constrained in some regions, and the utilization of fossil fuel derived energy is not environmentally friendly. To improve hydrogen peroxide production, several studies have been reported on hydrogen peroxide electrosynthesis by oxygen reduction in aqueous electrolytes. The main advantage of electrocatalytic hydrogen peroxide production is that it can be employed decentralized. Electrocatalytic hydrogen peroxide production is an emerging technology and faces challenges related to production efficiency. In this research, the pH dependence of oxygen reduction selectivity towards hydrogen peroxide was analyzed. Hydrophilic carbon fiber paper, developed in the Müller group,¹served as catalysts. We systematically varied electrolytes and their pH values to study oxygen reduction selectivity to hydrogen peroxide, with the goal to increase the hydrogen peroxide production efficiency, towards broad applicability of hydrogen peroxide electrosynthesis as an environmentally sustainable technology to produce hydrogen peroxide.