This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies. Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility: Hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂) is a versatile chemical feedstock whose industrial production relies predominantly on an energy-intensive process with a substantial environmental footprint. One alternative is to produce it using a catalyst activated by light.
In an international research project involving the Max Planck Institute of Colloids and Interfaces, researchers have now developed a synthesis strategy that allows them to precisely control the spatial arrangement of ions in a carbon nitride. The resulting photocatalyst is three times as efficient as conventional green production methods. The findings have been published in Advanced Materials.
Hydrogen peroxide is an environmentally friendly oxidizing agent. When it decomposes, it produces only water and oxygen, which is why it is also known as a "green chemical." As demand grows, particularly for environmentally friendly wastewater treatment and household and medical disinfection, production volumes continue to rise. To meet this demand, hydrogen peroxide is still produced predominantly using the so-called anthraquinone process, which incurs high energy costs and has a substantial carbon footprint.
Photocatalysis is a promising alternative. In this process, a material absorbs light and uses its energy to drive a chemical reaction without fossil energy. The efficiency of the reaction depends, among other things, on how readily the charges generated by light can move through the material and how long they remain available to drive the reaction.
The research group therefore investigated how these properties could be influenced as early as the chemical assembly of the photocatalyst. "Instead of changing the chemical composition of a photocatalyst to make it more efficient, we tried to change how the building blocks are arranged," says corresponding author Dr. Pelicano, who leads the SunThesis research group at the Max Planck Institute in Potsdam and has been researching this topic since 2023.
To achieve this, the researchers used organic–inorganic ionic cocrystals. These make it possible to predict precisely how the ions will be distributed as the crystals are thermally converted into the final material. Using this approach, the team developed a material called "CALiK." It is a crystalline carbon nitride belonging to the polyheptazine imide (PHI) class of materials and contains lithium and potassium ions in a spatially controlled environment.
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