Unassisted selective solar hydrogen peroxide production by an oxidised buckypaper-integrated perovskite photocathode.
basic_science · Level V
Where this comes from
- Record sourced from PubMed, PMID 34789721.
- Also identified by DOI 10.1038/s41467-021-26832-5 and PMC identifier 8599672.
- Licence recorded as CC BY.
- The licence permits redistribution, so the abstract is shown in full and the full text is available from the publisher.
Abstract
Hydrogen peroxide (H<sub>2</sub>O<sub>2</sub>) is an eco-friendly oxidant and a promising energy source possessing comparable energy density to that of compressed H<sub>2</sub>. The current H<sub>2</sub>O<sub>2</sub> production strategies mostly depend on the anthraquinone oxidation process, which requires significant energy and numerous organic chemicals. Photocatalyst-based solar H<sub>2</sub>O<sub>2</sub> production comprises single-step O<sub>2</sub> reduction to H<sub>2</sub>O<sub>2</sub>, which is a simple and eco-friendly method. However, the solar-to-H<sub>2</sub>O<sub>2</sub> conversion efficiency is limited by the low performance of the inorganic semiconductor-based photoelectrodes and low selectivity and stability of the H<sub>2</sub>O<sub>2</sub> production electrocatalyst. Herein, we demonstrate unassisted solar H<sub>2</sub>O<sub>2</sub> production using an oxidised buckypaper as the H<sub>2</sub>O<sub>2</sub> electrocatalyst combined with a high-performance inorganic-organic hybrid (perovskite) photocathode, without the need for additional bias or sacrificial agents. This integrated photoelectrode system shows 100% selectivity toward H<sub>2</sub>O<sub>2</sub> and a solar-to-chemical conversion efficiency of ~1.463%.