Hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) is often employed for the treatment of (waste)water due to its highly oxidative and non-polluting nature as it only breaks down to harmless compounds (i.e., water and oxygen). H2O2 is mainly produced in industrial settings which is expensive and demands extreme care with handling, shipping, and storage. This has led to an increase in research trends to devise an in-situ, decentralized, and small-scale H2O2 generation and utilization facility for the purpose of water treatment. Photo-electrochemical production of H2O2 has become an increasingly attractive option as the H2O2 produced can be instantaneously brought into utilization for in-situ treatment of water. In a photo-electrochemical system, a photoanode generates photocurrent and H2O2 is formed at the cathode surface via oxygen reduction. Photoelectrochemical H2O2 production was studied in a double chamber cell composed of photoanode and reticulated vitreous carbon (RVC) cathode. A proton exchange membrane (Nafion 117) separates the anodic and cathodic chambers. The photoanode was prepared by depositing a heterojunction of BiVO4/graphene oxide/TiO2 on the FTO glass plate and RVC was prepared by the polymerization and subsequent carbonization of furfuryl alcohol on a polyurethane sponge. In the presence of light, the photoanode generates photocurrent and produces H2O2 without any external current bias. The maximum rate of H2O2 was 5.4 µM/min, achieving about 100% faradic efficiency. These results promote the route for storing solar energy in the form of chemical energy (H2O2), which can be utilized for water treatment, by using economical materials to manufacture electrodes.

Production of hydrogen peroxide in a photoelectrocatalytic fuel cell

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