Oxygen Gas Nanovessel Promotes Hydrogen Peroxide Photosynthesis

Abstract

Harnessing sunlight to drive the two-electron reduction of oxygen presents a promising approach for on-site H₂O₂ generation. However, the efficacy of this process is hampered by its low solubility and inadequate supply of O₂ in water. To address this challenge, we introduce an O₂ gas nanovessel strategy to enhance O₂ availability during H₂O₂ photosynthesis. These O₂ nanovessels composed of silica zeolite can adsorb and store O₂ and then swiftly release it as dissolved O₂ when needed during photosynthesis. This approach leads to a remarkable 3.0-fold increase in H₂O₂ yield by the CoO_x/Mo:BiVO₄/Pd system, achieving a high apparent quantum yield of 13% at 375 nm and a solar-to-H₂O₂ conversion efficiency of 0.6% at full spectrum in pure water under ambient air conditions. Our findings present a viable solution to the O₂ limitation bottleneck in H₂O₂ photosynthesis and hold potential for application in other gas-limited photosynthetic systems.