Hydrogen peroxide is a compound whose use has been increasing dramatically in recent decades in a wide range of industries and activities, but its production is both costly and energy-intensive. For this reason, an environmentally friendly way of producing this compound has been sought for some time to mitigate its already high environmental impact. The solution could be electrochemical synthesis, but the problem arises with the electrocatalyst, which must be sufficiently active, selective and stable.
With the help of preliminary research, we have synthesized and thoroughly characterised a nickel-based electrocatalyst on a nitrogen-doped reduced graphene oxide substrate.. The electrocatalyst exhibits good activity and selectivity and excellent stability in alkaline media at low potentials. The synthesis of the electrocatalyst is quite simple and relatively fast and inexpensive.
I dispersed the electrocatalyst in two different solvents and deposited it as thin films on three different substrates and analysed its electrochemical properties. I used N,N-dimethylformamide and a mixture of demineralized water, isopropanol and Nafion as solvents. The electrocatalyst dispersed in DMF performed better on all substrates. Films were deposited on LTCC, stainless steel and carbon fiber paper. By far the best results were obtained on CFP, where the measured current density was more than ten times higher compared to the other two substrates. Such films will be used in the future for the electrosynthesis of hydrogen peroxide flow systems.
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