Tuning the electronic structure of molybdenum oxide nanoclusters with vanadium doping for electrochemical H2O2 production

Abstract

Electrosynthesis of H₂O₂ has gained tremendous attention as a highly promising alternative strategy to the traditional anthraquinone technique. Nevertheless, there is still a lack of highly efficient, robust, and low-cost electrocatalysts to propel the industrialization of electrosynthesis of H₂O₂. Herein, we constructed carboxyl functionalized CNTs decorated with V-doped MoO_x nanoclusters (MoVO_x NCs/CNTs) with uniform subnanometer size (∼0.7 nm). The incorporation of V significantly modified the electronic structure of MoO_x, enabling an impressive H₂O₂ electrosynthesis selectivity of up to 98% at 0.4 V, surpassing that of the undoped MoO_x NCs/CNTs. The MoVO_x NCs/CNTs catalyst retained 93% H₂O₂ electrosynthesis selectivity across a wide potential range (0.2–0.6 V). Moreover, the catalyst demonstrated excellent activity stability for 10 h with minimal decay. This work offers a pathway by rational design of a subnanometer catalyst for the electrocatalysis of O₂ to H₂O₂.