Rhein/carbon nanotube derived carbon materials with quinone group for hydrogen peroxide electrosynthesis

Oxygen-doped carbon materials (OC) have been studied as the electrocatalysts of two-electron oxygen reduction reaction (2-e ORR) to synthesize H2O2 due to their low cost and high selectivity. In this study, quinone group contained OC (OC-R/CNT) were prepared using the mixture of rhein with quinone group and carbon nanotube (CNT) as the precursor via one-step pyrolysis. The RRDE test showed that the OC-R/CNT gave a H2O2 selectivity of 94 % at 0.20 V in neutral medium. During the H-cell test, the H2O2 yield of OC-R/CNT can be up to 170 mmol gcat−1 h−1 at 0 V vs. RHE and the OC-R/CNT catalyst exhibited good long-term stability and reusability. The H2O2 solution produced at 0 V vs. RHE for 1 hour showed good bactericidal properties. For comparison, the OC without quinone group (OC-G/CNT) were also prepared with glucose and CNT as the precursor under the same condition, which showed poorer 2-e ORR catalytic performance. This study not only provides a feasible method to prepare quinone group contained carbon materials but also verifies the important role of quinone group in 2-e ORR.