Spherical Polydopamine-Modified Carbon-Felt Cathode with an Active Indole Structure for Efficient Hydrogen Peroxide Electroproduction

• Main Authors: Lei Chen, Sicheng Yuan, Huaiyuan Wang, Yanji Zhu, Dengyu Fu, Zhenggui Li
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 2021-06-01
• Series: Applied Sciences
• Subjects: electrocatalysis; hydrogen peroxide production; polydopamine; indole; oxygen reduction reaction
• Online Access: https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3417/11/12/5371

As one of the most promising methods for H₂O₂ production, H₂O₂ electroproduction has received increasingly more attention. In this study, a spherical particle polydopamine (pDA) modified carbon felt (noted as ht-pDA/ACF) for H₂O₂ production was fabricated. At a constant potential of 2.0 V and pH of 1.0, the H₂O₂ production of the ht-pDA/ACF cathode reached 220 mg/L after 6 h of electrolyzing, compared to the 30 mg/L H₂O₂ production of raw carbon felt. Firstly, the spherical pDA exposes more active sites that are favorable to the 2e⁻ ORR compared to pDA film. Secondly, the ring cleavage and re-cyclization of indole structure in the pDA during electrolyzing could form the radicals that act as the intermediate to the H₂O₂ formation. This research exhibits a low-cost method to modify carbon materials for effective H₂O₂ electroproduction. The ht-pDA/ACF cathode is promising for green H₂O₂ production and wastewater treatment.