Highly Selective O₂ Reduction to H₂O₂ Catalyzed by Cobalt Nanoparticles Supported on Nitrogen-Doped Carbon in Alkaline Solution

We report the synthesis of cobalt nanoparticles supported on nitrogen-doped carbon (CoNPs@N/C), which can reduce O2 into H2O2 with high selectivity (up to 93%) in 0.1 M KOH electrolyte and retains >90% activity even after 10 h polarization. The catalyst achieves a current density of 1 mA cm–2 at 0.76 V(RHE) and a peroxide production rate of ∼3.8molH2O2 gCo–1 h–1 over a 10 h period. Our study also highlights the requirement for good peroxide production catalysts to be poor hydrogen peroxide disproportionation catalysts. We show how the high activity of the CoNPs@N/C catalyst is correlated with low activity toward the peroxide disproportionation reaction.