Electrifying industrial hydrogen peroxide production via soft interfacial molecular mediation

Hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) is manufactured industrially via the anthraquinone autoxidation process – a typical thermocatalytic nonaqueous method. Despite a high interest in using renewable electricity to drive such processes, electrifying nonaqueous syntheses remains a significant challenge. Here, we present a multi-phase electrochemical anthraquinone autoxidation process that leverages an aqueous-nonaqueous interfacial proton-coupled electron transfer method facilitated by heterogeneous molecular mediation. This design enables the reduction of aqueous anthraquinones with high efficiency at high current densities, using only carbon electrodes. The method operates with a high selectivity through a quinhydrone intermediate and prevents the over-reduction of aromatics during thermocatalytic hydrogenation. This approach combines the benefits of aqueous electrochemistry with those of the traditional nonaqueous process to achieve high current density electrochemistry with rapid kinetics and mass transport, while avoiding unwanted electrolyte in the H2O2 product. This strategy bridges aqueous electrochemistry with nonaqueous chemistry and establishes a framework for the electrification and decentralization of other nonaqueous chemical processes.