Interfacial engineering of the crystalline-amorphous Ni2P-NiMoOx heterostructure catalyst for promoting electrochemical hydrogen peroxide production

Electrocatalytic two-electron oxygen reduction reaction (2e − ORR) is considered one of the most promising approaches to replace the traditional anthraquinone method for hydrogen peroxide synthesis. Developing advanced electrocatalysts with excellent two-electron activity and selectivity remains challenging. In this study, an interfacial engineering regulation strategy is proposed to construct crystalline-amorphous heterogeneous catalysts by introducing crystalline Ni 2 P via in-situ phosphorization of NiMoO 4 nanorods. This structure not only exposes abundant catalytic active sites but also effectively enhances the overall conductivity of the catalyst. The novel Ni 2 P-NiMoO x exhibits remarkable 2e − ORR performance, with the H 2 O 2 selectivity exceeding 92 % over a wide voltage range. Remarkably, a high H 2 O 2 production rate (4009 mmol g −1  h −1 ) is achieved by Ni 2 P/NiMoO x in H-cell test, which is 3.1 times higher than that of NiMoO 4 and 1.5 times greater than that of Ni 2 P. This study indicates the significant potential of crystalline-amorphous heterojunctions to improve the performance of 2e − ORR electrocatalysts.