Ultrafast Hole Preservation with Undercoordinated Tungsten for Efficient Solar-to-Chemical Conversion

Solar-to-chemical conversion is crucial, as it can form chemicals that are easy to store. Hydrogen peroxide (H 2 O 2 ) represents a favorable chemical for energy storage and disinfection. Solar driven H 2 O 2 photocatalysis is a promising method, as it could greatly reduce costs and provide on-demand production. The big challenge lies in achieving optimum production rate with reasonable materials cost. Herein, by precise control of synthetic conditions, tungsten (W)-based metal–organic-framework (MOF) with up to 28.64% undercoordinated W 4/5+ is prepared. The H 2 O 2 photoproduction rate up to 330,000 μmol g –1 h –1 L –1 is achieved, highest for non-noble metal-based catalysts. A multistage solar driven evaporation system further increases H 2 O 2 concentration to 0.43 wt %, reaching application level for water treatment. Such an efficient production originates from ultrafast hole preservation, which enables a two-electron transfer reaction pathway for H 2 O 2 production. Our work highlighted the potential of MOF-based photocatalyst for on-demand and large scale H 2 O 2 production.