LAUSR

Abstract The present study reports a simple modified method that enhanced the surface characteristics of graphite electrode towards greater hydrogen peroxide production. In this method, the plasmas of various gases vis. air, argon and nitrogen were used in alternating current glow discharge plasma (AC-GDP) technique to treat graphite surface. The morphology, microstructure, roughness, disorder degree, surface chemical composition and carbon state of the graphite samples were determined before and after plasma treatments. The formation of 3D nanostructures and enhancement in surface characteristics resulted in effective H2O2 generation over the plasma-treated electrodes. Particularly, air plasma-treated electrode showed higher efficiencies by producing 119 μmol/L H2O2, owing to etching effect of oxygen-content and improved wettability. Furthermore, the pH, applied current and electrolyte concentration had distinct effects on the H2O2 yield. The results indicated that AC-GDP using air plasma can be a promising technique for developing high efficient graphite electrodes for facile electro-generation of hydrogen peroxide.