Conducting Polymer‐Based e‐Refinery for Sustainable Hydrogen Peroxide Production
Zhixing Wu, Penghui Ding, Viktor Gueskine, Robert Boyd, Eric Daniel Głowacki, Magnus Odén, Xavier Crispin, Magnus Berggren, Emma M. Björk, Mikhail Vagin
Abstract
Electrocatalysis enables the industrial transition to sustainable production of chemicals using abundant precursors and electricity from renewable sources. De‐centralized production of hydrogen peroxide (H 2 O 2 ) from water and oxygen of air is highly desirable for daily life and industry. We report an effective electrochemical refinery (e‐refinery) for H 2 O 2 by means of electrocatalysis‐controlled comproportionation reaction (), feeding pure water and oxygen only. Mesoporous nickel (II) oxide (NiO) was used as electrocatalyst for oxygen evolution reaction (OER), producing oxygen at the anode. Conducting polymer poly(3,4‐ethylenedioxythiophene):poly(styrene sulfonate) (PEDOT:PSS) drove the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR), forming H 2 O 2 on the cathode. The reactions were evaluated in both half‐cell and device configurations. The performance of the H 2 O 2 e‐refinery, assembled on anion‐exchange solid electrolyte and fed with pure water, was limited by the unbalanced ionic transport. Optimization of the operation conditions allowed a conversion efficiency of 80%.