Ni clusters immobilized on oxygen-rich siloxene nanosheets for efficient electrocatalytic oxygen reduction toward HO synthesis.

Hydrogen peroxide (HO) electrosynthesis the two-electron oxygen reduction reaction (2e ORR) represents a green alternative to the energy-intensive anthraquinone process. However, the practical application of this method is limited by the lack of cost-effective and high-performance electrocatalysts. Reported here is a hybrid catalyst composed of nickel (Ni) clusters immobilized onto the surface of two-dimensional siloxene nanosheets (Ni/siloxene), which exhibits excellent efficiency and selectivity in electrocatalytic oxygen reduction to HO in an alkaline medium, demonstrating a standard 2e pathway with >95% HO selectivity across a wide potential range. Experimental results disclose that the high performance of Ni/siloxene can be traced to a synergy of the Ni clusters and the oxygen-rich surface of siloxene. Density functional theory (DFT) calculations further reveal a weakened interaction between Ni/siloxene and *OOH and the consequently reduced energy barrier for the *OOH protonation toward HO desorption, thus leading to a high 2e ORR reactivity and selectivity. This work provides a valuable and practical guidance for designing high-performance 2e ORR electrocatalysts based on the rational engineering of the metal-support interaction.