Hydrogen peroxide was discovered in 1818 by Louis Jacques Thénard (Fig. 1), professor at the Collège de France (1). He was examining the action of various acids on barium peroxide and at first thought that he had made modified forms of the acids.

How was hydrogen peroxide invented?

Discovery. Hydrogen peroxide was first described in 1818 by Louis Jacques Thénard, who produced it by treating barium peroxide with nitric acid. An improved version of this process used hydrochloric acid, followed by addition of sulfuric acid to precipitate the barium sulfate byproduct.

Where does the hydrogen peroxide come from?

Most of the hydrogen peroxide produced in the industrialized world is made in large chemical plants, where methane, or natural gas, is used to provide a source of hydrogen, which is then reacted with oxygen in a catalytic process under high heat.