由于近年来在电化学能源转化、存储及高附加值化学品电合成上的兴趣,设计与制备电催化剂受到越来越多的关注。活性是电催化剂关键参数之一,但观测到的活性会受到催化剂负载量的影响。本工作中,我们采用Co₃O₄/石墨纸（Co₃O₄/GPE）电极作为电极模型,通过循环伏安法和计时电位法展示Co₃O₄的负载量是如何影响乙二醇在碱性溶液（KOH）中氧化的。基于对氧化还原峰和双电层电容的分析可以得出增加催化剂负载量可以增加电化学活性位点数,也可以在低的氧化电位下促进乙二醇氧化,但在高的电位下并没有明显的促进作用。这个结果提供了对有机小分子电催化剂负载量优化的一些思考。

Designing and fabricating the electrocatalysts is attracting more and more attention in recent years due to a global interest in developing techniques for electrochemical energy conversion and storage, as well as elelectro-synthesis of valuable chemicals. The activity is one of the key performance parameters for electrocatalysts, while the observed activity can be affected by mass loading of electrocatalysts. Here, we take cobalt oxide (Co₃O₄)/graphite paper electrode (Co₃O₄/GPE) as a model electrode to demon-strate how the mass loading of Co₃O₄ catalyst influences ethylene glycol (EG) oxidation in alkaline (KOH) by cyclic votammetry (CV) and chronopentiometry (CP) approaches. Analyses from redox peaks and double layer capacitances reveal that increasing the mass loading provided more electrochemical active sites. Increasing loading made a positive contribution to EG oxidation at the low oxidation potential, while less significant improvement at the high oxidation potential. The results will provide some insight for optimzing the mass loading of electrocatalysts for electrocatalysis of small organic molecules.