Efficient Electrochemical Production of H2O2 on Hollow N-Doped Carbon Nanospheres with Abundant Micropores

Electrocatalytic two-electron (2e(-)) oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) has been regarded as an efficient strategy to achieve onsite H2O2 generation under ambient conditions. However, due to the sluggish kinetics and competitive reaction between 2e(-) and 4e(-) ORR, exploring more efficient ORR catalysts with dominant 2e(-) ORR selectivity is of significance. Herein, hollow N-doped carbon spheres (HNCS) with abundant micropores through a template-directed method are presented. Consequently, the selectivity of the HNCS reaches similar to 91.9% at 0.7 V (vs RHE), and the output for H2O2 production is up to 618.5 mmol g(catalyst)(-1) h(-1) in 0.1 M KOH solution. The enhanced performance of HNCS for H2O2 electrosynthesis could be attributed to the hollow structure and heteroatom/defect/pore incorporation. The strategy presented here could shed light on the design of efficient carbon-based materials for improved 2e(-) ORR.