Water–solid contact electrification causes hydrogen peroxide production from hydroxyl radical recombination in sprayed microdroplets

Abstract

Contact electrification between water and a solid surface is crucial for physicochemical processes at water-solid interfaces. However, the nature of the involved processes remains poorly understood, especially in the initial stage of the interface formation. Here we report that H₂O₂ is spontaneously produced from the hydroxyl groups on the solid surface when contact occurred. The density of hydroxyl groups affects the H₂O₂ yield. The participation of hydroxyl groups in H₂O₂ generation is confirmed by mass spectrometric detection of ¹⁸O in the product of the reaction between 4-carboxyphenylboronic acid and ¹⁸O-labeled H₂O₂ resulting from ¹⁸O₂ plasma treatment of the surface. We propose a model for H₂O₂ generation based on recombination of the hydroxyl radicals produced from the surface hydroxyl groups in the water-solid contact process. Our observations show that the spontaneous generation of H₂O₂ is universal on the surfaces of soil and atmospheric fine particles in a humid environment.