Exceptional Photocatalytic Hydrogen Peroxide Production from Sandwich-Structured Graphene Interlayered Phenolic Resins Nanosheets with Mesoporous Channels

Harnessing solar energy to produce hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) from water (H2O) and dioxygen (O-2) via artificial photosynthesis is an attractive route. To achieve high solar-to-H2O2 conversion efficiency, herein, an interfacial self-assembly strategy is adopted to pattern mesoporous resorcinol-formaldehyde resin (MRF) onto reduced graphene oxide (rGO) to form sandwich-structured rGO@MRF polymeric photocatalysts. The internal graphene layer that mimics the electron transport chain of plant leaf, can effectively transfer electrons, and promote the two-electron reduction of O-2. Moreover, the mesoporous channels mimic the stomata, beneficially boost the fluid velocity, enrichment of O-2, and diffusion of H2O2. Consequently, the developed metal-free material can achieve an exceptional solar-to-chemical energy conversion efficiency of 1.23%. This ingenious interface engineering brings new opportunities for the design of efficient artificial photocatalysts.