Molybdenum carbide nanoclusters with ultrafast electron transfer ability promotes molecular oxygen selective electrocatalytic reduction to hydroxyl radicals for pollutant control

[Display omitted] •MoC/NSP catalyst is synthesized as an efficient catalyst for pollutant degradation.•MoC/NSP catalyst can selectively reduce molecular oxygen to hydroxyl radicals.•The heteroatom-doped carbon carrier supported MoC has strong electron transfer ability.•The mechanism of electrocatalytic reduction of molecular oxygen to hydroxyl radicals is determined. A treatment strategy of in situ generation and activation of hydrogen peroxide to degrade pollutants by the heterogeneous Fenton-like technology is promising for water pollution. However, the selective activation of oxygen to hydroxyl radicals (OH) by cathode materials is still challenging. Here, molybdenum carbide (MoC) supported on a heteroatoms-doped (N, P, S) carbon carrier catalyst was successfully prepared, which rapidly produced OH and degraded paracetamol (APAP) pollutants. A high APAP degradation efficiency with a specific energy consumption of 0.24 kWh g−1 TOC was achieved. After 10 sets of continuous operations, the APAP degradation rate remains unchanged. Combined with density functional theory calculations, molecular oxygen adsorption obtains one electron with proton hydrogen transfer to hydroperoxyl (OOH) on the MoC surface, and the adsorbed OOH directly activate into OH due to the ultrafast electron transfer ability of MoC. Differential charge density analysis also shows that Mo transfers electrons to O. This strategy provides a new idea for optimizing catalysts to improve the heterogeneous Fenton-like performance.