Adsorption and Oxidation of Pnenol on Metal Oxide Electrodes

The article investigates kinetics of electrocatalytic oxidation of phenol in the solution of sodium sulfate on a platinum electrode in the presence of dispersed oxides of metals of varied valence. It is shown that the degree of phenol oxidation in the presence of oxides increase by 10–15%. The most active catalysts include oxides of cobalt, chromium, copper and titanium, whose catalytic activity diminishes in the series Co3O4 > Cr2O3 > Cr2O3 > TiO2 > CuO; the rate of electrooxidation of phenol increases at a decrease of anolyte. It was shown that a limiting stage of electrochemical oxidation of phenol in aqueous solutions with the concentration 50 mg/dm3 is a diffusion of the substance to the electrode.