Activity and Selectivity for O2 Reduction to H2O2 on Transition Metal Surfaces

Industrially viable electrochemical production of H 2 O 2 requires active, selective and stable electrocatalyst materials to catalyse the oxygen reduction reaction to H 2 O 2 . On the basis of density functional theory calculations, we explain why single site catalysts such as Pd/Au show improved selectivity over pure metals such as Au.