Exceptional Photocatalytic Hydrogen Peroxide Production from Sandwich-Structured Graphene Interlayered Phenolic Resins Nanosheets with Mesoporous Channels

Abstract

Harnessing solar energy to produce hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) from water (H2O) and dioxygen (O2) via artificial photosynthesis is an attractive route. To achieve high solar-to-H2O2 conversion efficiency, herein, an interfacial self-assembly strategy is adopted to pattern mesoporous resorcinol-formaldehyde resin (MRF) onto reduced graphene oxide (rGO) to form sandwich-structured rGO@MRF polymeric photocatalysts. The internal graphene layer that mimics the electron transport chain of plant leaf, can effectively transfer electrons, and promote the two-electron reduction of O2. Moreover, the mesoporous channels mimic the stomata, beneficially boost the fluid velocity, enrichment of O2, and diffusion of H2O2. Consequently, the developed metal-free material can achieve an exceptional solar-to-chemical energy conversion efficiency of 1.23%. This ingenious interface engineering brings new opportunities for the design of efficient artificial photocatalysts.