N-doped carbon nanotubes supported CoSe2 nanoparticles: A highly efficient and stable catalyst for H2O2 electrosynthesis in acidic media

• Published in: Nano research Vol. 15; no. 1; pp. 304 - 309
• Main Authors: Zhang, Longcheng, Liang, Jie, Yue, Luchao, Xu, Zhaoquan, Dong, Kai, Liu, Qian, Luo, Yonglan, Li, Tingshuai, Cheng, Xiaohong, Cui, Guanwei, Tang, Bo, Alshehri, Abdulmohsen Ali, Alzahrani, Khalid Ahmed, Guo, Xiaodong, Sun, Xuping
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Beijing Tsinghua University Press 01.01.2022; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Anthraquinone; Anthraquinones; Atomic/Molecular Structure and Spectra; Biomedicine; Biotechnology; Carbon; Carbon nanotubes; Catalysts; Catalytic converters; Chemical reduction; Chemistry and Materials Science; Condensed Matter Physics; Crystal structure; Durability; Electrocatalysts; Hydrogen peroxide; Materials Science; Nanoparticles; Nanotechnology; Nanotubes; Nitrogen; Oxygen reduction reactions; Research Article; Selectivity; nitrogen-doped carbon nanotube; cobalt selenide; two-electron oxygen reduction reaction; electrocatalysis; hydrogen peroxide
• ISSN: 1998-0124; 1998-0000
• DOI: 10.1007/s12274-021-3474-0

Electrocatalytic oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) provides an attractive alternative to anthraquinone process for H 2 O 2 synthesis. Rational design of earth-abundant electrocatalysts for H 2 O 2 synthesis via a two-electron ORR process in acids is attractive but still very challenging. In this work, we report that nitrogen-doped carbon nanotubes as a multi-functional support for CoSe 2 nanoparticles not only keep CoSe 2 nanoparticles well dispersed but alter the crystal structure, which in turn improves the overall catalytic behaviors and thereby renders high O 2 -to-H 2 O 2 conversion efficiency. In 0.1 M HClO 4 , such CoSe 2 @NCNTs hybrid delivers a high H 2 O 2 selectivity of 93.2% and a large H 2 O 2 yield rate of 172 ppm·h −1 with excellent durability up to 24 h. Moreover, CoSe 2 @NCNTs performs effectively for organic dye degradation via electro-Fenton process.