N-doped carbon nanotubes supported CoSe(2) nanoparticles: A highly efficient and stable catalyst for H(2)O(2) electrosynthesis in acidic media

Electrocatalytic oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) provides an attractive alternative to anthraquinone process for H(2)O(2) synthesis. Rational design of earth-abundant electrocatalysts for H(2)O(2) synthesis via a two-electron ORR process in acids is attractive but still very challenging. In this work, we report that nitrogen-doped carbon nanotubes as a multi-functional support for CoSe(2) nanoparticles not only keep CoSe(2) nanoparticles well dispersed but alter the crystal structure, which in turn improves the overall catalytic behaviors and thereby renders high O(2)-to-H(2)O(2) conversion efficiency. In 0.1 M HClO(4), such CoSe(2)@NCNTs hybrid delivers a high H(2)O(2) selectivity of 93.2% and a large H(2)O(2) yield rate of 172 ppm·h(−1) with excellent durability up to 24 h. Moreover, CoSe(2)@NCNTs performs effectively for organic dye degradation via electro-Fenton process. [Image: see text] ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: Supplementary material (SEM images, EDX mapping images, XPS spectrum, XRD patterns, RRDE voltammogram, Tafel plots, cyclic voltammograms, UV-Vis spectra, and Tables S1) is available in the online version of this article at 10.1007/s12274-021-3474-0.