Photocatalytic H2O2 production driven by cyclodextrin-pyrimidine polymer in a wide pH range without electron donor or oxygen aeration

Photocatalytic H 2 O 2 generation has drawn growing attention for on-site H 2 O 2 production. However, current photocatalytic systems still need organic electron donor, oxygen aeration, and acidic pH to elevate the production efficiency. We report a crosslinking polymer catalyst constructed by β-cyclodextrin aldehyde and 4-amino-6-hydroxy-2-mercaptopyrimidine to address the above challenges. This novel catalyst achieves an outstanding yield rate of 557.2 μM g −1 h −1 for photocatalytic H 2 O 2 production in pure water and can maintain its performance over a wide pH range (1–11) without electron donor or oxygen aeration. The mechanism investigation shows that the high generation performance is attributed to the mutual promotion of water photooxidation and oxygen photoreduction. Moreover, this catalyst is demonstrated for in situ sterilization in various water bodies under visible light irradiation. The reported polymer photocatalyst addresses some of the obstacles in photocatalytic H 2 O 2 generation, and will promote practical applications of H 2 O 2 generation from solar energy. • Cyclodextrin-pyrimidine polymer catalyst is reported for photocatalytic H 2 O 2 generation. • The catalyst exhibits outstanding H 2 O 2 yield rate of 557.2 μmol g −1 L −1 under air atmosphere without electron donor. • H 2 O 2 is produced through a two-channel reaction pathway containing 2-electron ORR and 2-electron WOR. • This photocatalytic system can generate H 2 O 2 in various water media and wide pH range (1−11).