LAUSR

Abstract Generating H2O2 through the use of photoelectrochemical cells (PECs) is attractive for integrating renewable energies into the production of this environmentally-friendly chemical oxidant. Here, we fabricate a PEC for producing H2O2, establish an effective analytical platform for studying this device, and determine optimal catalysts to use. Specifically, we use scanning electrochemical microscopy (SECM) as an analytical technique to measure H2O2 production in-situ from a PEC and study a variety of electrocatalysts and photocatalysts. The effects of materials properties such as photoanode band edge and H2O2 electrocatalyst selectivity are probed here to determine ideal catalytic properties for an optimal H2O2 PEC. This work successfully incorporated SECM as an H2O2 detection method into a 2-electrode PEC, and it also demonstrates the potential to streamline the discovery of new materials for implementation into a high efficiency H2O2 PEC.