Cathodic Electrosynthesis of H2O2 Using Sustainable Cellulose‐Co‐ZIF Electrocatalyst

Abstract

AbstractManufacturing the biochar‐derived 2e‐electron oxygen reduction (2e‐ORR) electrocatalyst from sustainable biomass promises a cost‐effective alternative for typical petroleum‐based resources, but still suffers from inferior catalytic activity and low 2e‐ORR selectivity. Here, the study demonstrates a simple and effective strategy for achieving high‐performance sustainable Co‐ZIF‐engineered cellulose electrocatalyst, enabling in situ growth of nanostructured ZIF‐67 particles around the abundant hydrophilic oxygen‐containing micro‐scale cellulose fibers. Through a simple one‐step pyrolysis at 900 °C of the cellulose‐Co‐ZIF substrate, a high‐porosity carbonous the Co‐ZIF‐CC catalyst is obtained that possesses active sites and carbon defects, facilitating 2e‐ORR progress for H2O2 production. By utilizing O2 as reaction gas, it can electrochemically generate H2O2 concentration attaining up to 555.1 mg L−1, outperforming a nearly five‐fold increase compared to that using air, and also showing about maximin thirty times higher compared to exiting biochar‐based 2e‐ORR electrocatalysts from biomass. The proposed cellulose‐Co‐ZIF strategy breakthroughs the next generation of sustainable 2e‐ORR electrocatalysts from renewable bioresources with low‐cost, economic ecology, beyond the wide potential applications for other electrocatalysts.