Recent Strategies for Hydrogen Peroxide Production by Metal-Free Carbon Nitride Photocatalysts

Hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) is a chemical which has gained wide importance in several industrial and research fields. Its mass production is mostly performed by the anthraquinone (AQ) oxidation reaction, leading to high energy consumption and significant generation of wastes. Other methods of synthesis...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inCatalysts Vol. 9; no. 12; p. 990
Main Authors Torres-Pinto, André, Sampaio, Maria J., Silva, Cláudia G., Faria, Joaquim L., M. T. Silva, Adrián
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Basel MDPI AG 01.12.2019
Subjects
Anthraquinones
Carbon
Carbon nitride
Catalysts
Chemical reactions
Chemical synthesis
Costs
Energy
Energy consumption
Fuel cells
Hydrogen peroxide
Light
Light irradiation
Light sources
Mass production
Organic compounds
Oxidation
Photocatalysis
Pollutants
Semiconductors
Solvents
Toxicity
Water treatment
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Summary:Hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) is a chemical which has gained wide importance in several industrial and research fields. Its mass production is mostly performed by the anthraquinone (AQ) oxidation reaction, leading to high energy consumption and significant generation of wastes. Other methods of synthesis found in the literature include the direct synthesis from oxygen and hydrogen. However, this H2O2 production process is prone to explosion hazard or undesirable by‑product generation. With the growing demand of H2O2, the development of cleaner and economically viable processes has been under intense investigation. Heterogeneous photocatalysis for H2O2 production has appeared as a promising alternative since it requires only an optical semiconductor, water, oxygen, and ideally solar light irradiation. Moreover, employing a metal-free semiconductor minimizes possible toxicity consequences and reinforces the sustainability of the process. The most studied metal‑free catalyst employed for H2O2 production is polymeric carbon nitride (CN). Several chemical and physical modifications over CN have been investigated together with the assessment of different sacrificial agents and light sources. This review shows the recent developments on CN materials design for enhancing the synthesis of H2O2, along with the proposed mechanisms of H2O2 production. Finally, the direct in situ generation of H2O2, when dealing with the photocatalytic synthesis of added-value organic compounds and water treatment, is discussed.
ISSN:2073-4344
2073-4344
DOI:10.3390/catal9120990