Bioinspired oxygen-locking property electrocatalysts enable highly efficient electrochemical ozone production for sea sand desalination

Electrochemical ozone (O 3 ) production (EOP) faces a critical challenge due to the competitive oxygen evolution reaction (OER), which severely limits ozone yields. Inspired by the oxygen-binding mechanism of heme, we designed a biomimetic catalyst, FePP@SnO 2 @CA, by electrodepositing iron porphyrin (FePP) onto SnO 2 @CA nanosheets, endowing it with an “oxygen-locking property” to suppress competing OER. This catalyst demonstrates exceptional EOP performance, achieving an ozone production rate of 8.9 mmol cm −2 h −1 and a Faraday efficiency (FE) of 20.46% ± 1.6%. DFT calculations confirm that Fe–O 2 interactions stabilize O 2 * intermediates, redirecting the reaction pathway from OER to ozone generation and reducing the O–O coupling energy barrier, thereby enabling thermodynamic selectivity control. In addition, when FePP@SnO 2 @CA is used as a dual-functional material for sea sand desalination, the chlorine removal efficiency can reach 52.7%. This work provides a novel bioinspired strategy for EOP catalyst design and broadens the application potential of FePP@SnO 2 @CA in sustainable technologies.