Enhanced Catalytic Performance in Two-Electron Oxygen Reduction Reaction via ZnSnO3 Perovskite

Effective design of high-performance electrocatalysts for the green synthesis of hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) by a two-electron oxygen reduction reaction (2e-ORR) method is of vital importance in various applications, but it is still a great challenge for the electrocatalysis community after all of these years. In this work, a novel ZnSnO3 perovskite is prepared as a highly selective and stable catalyst for the electrosynthesis of H2O2 via 2e-ORR. Profiting from its perovskite-type structure, it presents excellent electrochemical activity toward 2e-ORR in an alkaline electrolyte, and correlated H2O2 selectivity can reach 76%. Additionally, the H2O2 selectivity of ZnSnO3 perovskite in 2e-ORR can be steadily maintained for 6 h in a durability test, and the production of H2O2 synthesis achieves a total amount of 78 mmol·gcat–1·h–1 at 0.1 V. Impressively, ZnSnO3 perovskite delivers a preferable turnover frequency (TOF) of 1.31 × 10–3 s–1 compared to the commercial Pt/C catalyst (0.05 × 10–3 s–1) under the same conditions, demonstrating the great applicable potential of ZnSnO3 perovskite as an active non-noble metal oxide electrocatalyst for 2e-ORR. From the view of catalytic essence, the high electrochemical performance of ZnSnO3 perovskite in 2e-ORR originates from the suitable adsorption capacity on its surface for the adsorption of important *OOH intermediates according to the theoretical calculations. Therefore, ZnSnO3 perovskite as the efficient 2e-ORR catalyst is a promising candidate for the green synthesis of hydrogen peroxide.