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Bioengineered carbon nanoboxes for efficient electrosynthesis of hydrogen peroxide via controlled oxygen reduction
Nano Research 2025, 18(11): 94907934
Published: 24 October 2025
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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.

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