Selective electrochemical production of hydrogen peroxide at zigzag edges of exfoliated molybdenum telluride nanoflakes
Citation:
Zhao, X., Wang, Y., Da, Y., Wang, X., Wang, T., Xu, M., He, X., Zhou, W., Li, Y.,Coleman, J.N., Li, Y., Selective electrochemical production of hydrogen peroxide at zigzag edges of exfoliated molybdenum telluride nanoflakes, National Science Review, 2020, 7, 8, 1360–1366Download Item:
Abstract:
The two-electron reduction of molecular oxygen represents an effective strategy to enable the green, mild and on-demand synthesis of hydrogen peroxide. Its practical viability, however, hinges on the development of advanced electrocatalysts, preferably composed of non-precious elements, to selectively expedite this reaction, particularly in acidic medium. Our study here introduces 2H-MoTe2 for the first time as the efficient non-precious-metal-based electrocatalyst for the electrochemical production of hydrogen peroxide in acids. We show that exfoliated 2H-MoTe2 nanoflakes have high activity (onset overpotential ∼140 mV and large mass activity of 27 A g−1 at 0.4 V versus reversible hydrogen electrode), great selectivity (H2O2 percentage up to 93%) and decent stability in 0.5 M H2SO4. Theoretical simulations evidence that the high activity and selectivity of 2H-MoTe2 arise from the proper binding energies of HOO* and O* at its zigzag edges that jointly favor the two-electron reduction instead of the four-electron reduction of molecular oxygen.
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http://people.tcd.ie/colemaj
Author: Coleman, Jonathan
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Journal ArticleCollections
Series/Report no:
National Science Review;7;
8;
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Full text availableKeywords:
electrocatalyst, synthesis of hydrogen peroxide, exfoliated 2H-MoTe2 nanoflakes, Hydrogen peroxide production, Non-precious-metal-based electrocatalyst, Molybdenumtelluride, Liquid-phase exfoliation, Zigzag edgesDOI:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/nsr/nwaa084Metadata
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