@article{Fang2025, 
author = {Xiaomin Fang and Shuchun Li and Shuo Chen and Zixuan Zhang and Cuiying Jiang and Nengdong Lin and Changsheng Cao and Yaqiang Li and Zailai Xie},
title = {Bioengineered carbon nanoboxes for efficient electrosynthesis of hydrogen peroxide via controlled oxygen reduction},
year = {2025},
journal = {Nano Research},
volume = {18},
number = {11},
pages = {94907934},
keywords = {bioengineered carbon nanoboxes, N-doped hollow carbon, hydrogen peroxide, selective oxygen reduction, environmental and chemical applications},
url = {https://www.sciopen.com/article/10.26599/NR.2025.94907934},
doi = {10.26599/NR.2025.94907934},
abstract = {Metal-free carbon catalysts are promising alternatives to noble-metal electrocatalysts for H2O2 production through two electron oxygen reduction reaction (2e− ORR). Herein, a novel bioengineering approach is proposed to prepare N-doped hollow carbon nanoboxes from guanine precursor. The optimized NC-HNBs-550 exhibits an exceptional electrocatalytic performance, achieving a high H2O2 Faradaic efficiency (FE) of over 90% across a broad potential window exceeding 0.6 V. Remarkably, when tested in a flow cell configuration, NC-HNBs-550 delivers near-unity FE for H2O2 production at industrial-grade current densities, demonstrating its practicality for scalable applications. Impressively, the in situ electro-synthesized H2O2 is further employed as a green oxidant for rapid degradation of various organic dyes and even tetracyclines, and high-purity benzoyl peroxide (BPO) synthesis, highlighting its versatility in environmental and chemical applications. Combining experimental and theoretical analyses, we reveal that the superior 2e− ORR activity originates from the abundance of pyrrolic-N species in NC-HNBs, which optimize the adsorption energy of *OOH intermediates and promote selective O2 reduction. This work not only advances the rational design of biomass-derived carbon catalysts for sustainable H2O2 production but also provides a versatile platform for environmental remediation and value-added chemical production.}
}