Bimetallic CoNi alloy nanoparticles dispersed uniformly on N-doped mesoporous hollow carbon nanospheres as efficient electrocatalysts for H2O2 production in acidic media

: Xu, Tianjiao; Wang, Xiaolei; Zhao, Chenyang; Sheng, Xueru; Wang, Nianxing; Zhao, Yanli; Song, Jianjun; Liu, Haixia; Wang, Jingui; Jia, Haiyuan

Publisher: Elsevier BV

: AMSTERDAM

: 2025

: Applied Surface Science

: APPL SURF SCI

: 163002

: 697

: 10

: 0169-4332

: 1873-5584

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apsusc.2025.163002

: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apsusc.2025.163002

The electrocatalytic two electron oxygen reduction reaction (2e- ORR) is a promising approach to produce H2O2 in acidic media. However, the high cost of precious metal-based electrocatalysts and the challenge to prepare single atom catalysts with well-defined periodic structures and large metal mass content hinder their potential industrial application. We report a carbon supported bimetallic alloy nanocatalyst by dispersing CoNi alloy nanoparticles on the surface of nitrogen-doped mesoporous hollow carbon nanospheres (CoNi/N-MHCS). The CoNi/N-MHCS exhibited a superior 2e- ORR performance with an H2O2 selectivity of 81 % and productivity of 6.048 mol gcat- 1 h- 1 in the acidic media. The catalyst also demonstrates an excellent electro-Fenton performance in degrading tetracycline hydrochloride (TCH) as a demonstration of its on-site practicability. Experiments and DFT theoretical calculations demonstrate that the charge redistribution between Co and Ni atoms due to the formation of CoNi alloy nanoparticles may reduce the reaction energy barrier of *OOH into H2O2, promote the reaction kinetics and modulate the adsorption energy of the intermediate *OOH on the CoNi active sites, thus enhancing the 2e- ORR electrocatalytic performance. This work provides new insights into the development of high efficiency carbon supported bimetallic alloy catalysts for electrocatalytic conversion of O2 into H2O2.

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The authors gratefully acknowledge the financial support by the Natural Science Foundation of Shandong Province (No. ZR2022QB086, ZR2023QF086) , the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 22104139, 22208382, 22275103 and 52072190) , Jinan "20 New Universities" Funding Project (202228019) , Science, Education and Industry Integration Innovation Pilot Project from Qilu University of Technology (Shandong Academy of Sciences) (2024ZDZX13) and the Program for Scientific Research Innovation Team in Colleges and Universities of Shandong Province.