Phosphorous and selenium tuning Co-based non-precious catalysts for electrosynthesis of H2O2 in acidic media

Electrosynthesis of hydrogen peroxide(H2O2) is an on-site method that enables independent distribution applications in many fields due to its small-scale and sustainable features. The crucial point remains developing highly active, selective and cost-effective electrocatalysts. The electrosynthesis of H2O2in acidic media is more practical owing to its stability and no need for further purification. We herein report a phosphorus and selenium tuning Co-based non-precious catalyst(Co PSe) toward two-electron oxygen reduction reaction(2e–ORR) to produce H2O2in acidic media. The starting point of using both P and Se is finding a balance between strong ORR activity of Co Se and weak activity of Co P. The results demonstrated that the Co PSe catalyst exhibited the optimized 2e–ORR activity compared with Co P and Co Se. It disclosed an onset potential of 0.68 V and the H2O2selectivity 76%-85% in a wide potential range(0–0.5 V).Notably, the Co PSe catalyst overcomes a significant challenge of a narrow-range selectivity for transitionmetal based 2e–ORR catalysts. Finally, combining with electro-Fenton reaction, an on-site system was constructed for efficient degradation of organic pollutants. This work provides a promising non-precious Co-based electrocatalyst for the electrosynthesis of H2O2in acidic media.