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Abstract The photosynthesis of hydrogen peroxide (H 2 O 2 ) via the selective two‐electron oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) is emerging as a promising method for producing this important chemical. However, the reliance on sacrificial agents has limited the practical application of many photocatalysts. Herein, nitrogen‐doped graphene quantum dots (NGQDs) are loaded onto the surface of Mn x Cd 1‐ x S solid solution nanowires to enable overall H 2 O 2 photosynthesis in pure water under an air atmosphere. The optimized Mn 0.2 Cd 0.8 S/NGQDs (M 0.2 NG5) composite achieves a high yield of 6885 µmol g −1 h −1 , which is 10.4 times and 4.5 times higher than that of CdS (661 µmol g −1 h −1 ) and Mn 0.2 Cd 0.8 S (1522 µmol g −1 h −1 ), respectively. The NGQDs act as co‐catalysts, enhancing the conductivity of the system. The strong electronegativity and polarity of the incorporated nitrogen and functional groups on the NGQDs edges enhance the ability of carbon atoms to activate O 2 into ·O 2 − . The mechanism of H 2 O 2 photosynthesis is investigated using in situ Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, intermediate trapping experiments, and theoretical calculations. This work offers new insights into the design of non‐noble metal co‐catalyst‐modified photocatalysts for sacrificial‐agent‐free H 2 O 2 production.
Wang et al. (Wed,) studied this question.