Design principle of electrocatalysts for the electrooxidation of organics

The electrooxidation of organics opens up an innovative way for the efficient use of electrical energy and environmentally friendly generation of high-value-added chemicals. The key challenges are the design of efficient and stable electrocatalysts and the creation of energy-efficient coupled systems. This review reports recent advances in the electrooxidation of organics. Then, the major fundamental principles of electrocatalyst design are elaborately summarized in terms of (1) improving the intrinsic catalyst activity of the catalytic site, (2) increasing the variety and number of active sites, and (3) promoting the formation of highly active intermediates. Afterward, the energy-saving and multifunctional coupling systems consisting of organic electrooxidation reaction at anode and reduction reaction at cathode are overviewed and systematically discussed. Finally, the key challenges and prospects regarding further accelerating the basic research and applied research of organic electrooxidation are briefly proposed.