Intensified electrocatalytic production of hydrogen peroxide (HYPER)

In order to reduce emissions, the anthraquinone process currently used for hydrogen peroxide production will need to be replaced by a more sustainable alternative. Electrochemical hydrogen peroxide production has been shown to potentially be a good candidate for this purpose. However, it still lacks commercial viability, therefore the process will need to be optimized. The main goal of this project is to develop a better cathode for the production of hydrogen peroxide, which will be a very important step towards commercially viable electrochemical hydrogen peroxide production. Non noble transition metals, such as Ni and Co will be used because of their low cost and good potential. To tune their electronic properties, which will greatly influence the electrochemical behaviour of the material, supported metal nanoparticles will be explored. To further tune the properties of the material, modification of the polarity of the support material will also be explored. When the catalyst is optimized, kinetic modelling will be done to gain more understanding about the system. And finally, the material will be integrated into a membrane assembly electrode in collaboration with the other parties involved to improve the applicability towards industrially sized systems.