High Selectivity toward Electrochemical Ozone Production of Sb‐SnO2 with Cu and Ni Co‐doped

Ni‐Sb‐SnO2(Ni‐ATO) can generate ozone electrochemically which compensates the energy efficiency. However, the selectivity of electrochemical ozone production (EOP) on Ni‐ATO surface is yet insufficient for practical application. In this study, ATO with Cu and Ni co‐doped (CuNi‐ATO) is prepared to enhance the electrochemical performance and stability of ozone generation. CuNi‐ATO achieves the highest known current efficiency of 71% for EOP under acidic conditions, which is 2.4 times higher than that of Ni‐ATO. Efficient EOP is maintained with diverse pH, temperature, and electrolytes. Notably, the service lifetime of CuNi‐ATO is 2.7 times longer than that of Ni‐ATO. DFT calculations further reveal that ATO with Cu and Ni co‐doped presents weakened adsorption toward O*, O2*, and O3*. The spontaneous combination of O* and O2* is the main reason for enhanced EOP capacity on CuNi‐ATO. This work provides a novel insight into designing materials for efficient ozone production. By introducing both Ni and Cu atoms into Sb‐SnO2, an electrode that can generate ozone with a current efficiency of up to 70% is obtained. The calculation reveals the key role of Cu atoms that make O2 and O more easily “escape” from the surface of the electrode so as to combine and form O3.