p-Block Bismuth Nanoclusters Sites Activated by Atomically Dispersed Bismuth for Tandem Boosting Electrocatalytic Hydrogen Peroxide Production

Constructing electrocatalysts with p-block elements is generally considered rather challenging owing to their closed d shells. Here for the first time, we present a p-block-element bismuth-based (Bi-based) catalyst with the co-existence of single-atomic Bi sites coordinated with oxygen (O) and sulfur (S) atoms and Bi nanoclusters (Bi_clu) (collectively denoted as BiOS_SA/Bi_clu) for the highly selective oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) into hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂). As a result, BiOS_SA/Bi_clu gives a high H₂O₂ selectivity of 95 % in rotating ring-disk electrode, and a large current density of 36 mA cm⁻² at 0.15 V vs. RHE, a considerable H₂O₂ yield of 11.5 mg cm⁻² h⁻¹ with high H₂O₂ Faraday efficiency of ∼90 % at 0.3 V vs. RHE and a long-term durability of ∼22 h in H-cell test. Interestingly, the experimental data on site poisoning and theoretical calculations both revealed that, for BiOS_SA/Bi_clu, the catalytic active sites are on the Bi clusters, which are further activated by the atomically dispersed Bi coordinated with O and S atoms. This work demonstrates a new synergistic tandem strategy for advanced p-block-element Bi catalysts featuring atomic-level catalytic sites, and the great potential of rational material design for constructing highly active electrocatalysts based on p-block metals.