The 21st International Conference “Man and Working Environment”
SAFETY ENGINEERING & MANAGEMENT SCIENCE, INDUSTRY, EDUCATION (SEMSIE 2025)   
PROCEEDINGS OF PAPERS 
25-26 September 2025, SOKOBANJA, SERBIA  

Boštjan Genorio , Ivo Bardarov , Pedro Martins ,
Desislava Yordanova Apostolova 

ORIGINAL SCIENTIFIC PAPER

UPCYCLED CARBON BLACK AS AN ELECTROCATALYST FOR HYDROGEN PEROXIDE GENERATION

DOI: 10.46793/SEMSIE25.043G
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Abstract:

Carbon black is used in many industries due to its versatility and low cost. In this work, a cost-effective and scalable method for upcycling carbon black to carbon black flash graphene (CB-FG) using the fast flash joule heating (FJH) technique is presented. Extensive morphological, structural, spectroscopic and chemical analyses show that the resulting CB-FG exhibits lamellar morphology, low oxygen content, and a turbostratic graphitic structure. These properties underpin its excellent electrochemical performance in the two-electron oxygen reduction reaction (2e- ORR) for the electrosynthesis of hydrogen peroxide (H2O2). CB-FG shows up to 95% selectivity and high activity in 0.1 M KOH, making it a strong candidate for practical H2O2 electrosynthesis applications. Overall, this study advances the development of sustainable, upcycled electrocatalysts for H2O2 production and contributes to a circular economy and global sustainability initiatives.

Keywords:

Flash graphene; Flash Joule heating; upcycling; electrochemical synthesis; sustainability

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS:

The financial support of the Slovenian Research and Innovation Agency (ARIS) through grants P2-0423, P1-0447, J7-4636, J2-50086, and J7-50227 is gratefully acknowledged.

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