Cathode-mediated electrochemical conversion of phenol to benzoquinone in wastewater: High yield rate and low energy consumption.

Selective conversion of organic pollutants in wastewater into value-added chemicals is a promising strategy for sustainable water management. Electrochemical processes offer attractive features of precise control over reaction pathway to achieve desired products, however, the traditional anode-mediated processes still face challenges of over-oxidation by the inevitably formed of hydroxyl radical (HO). Herein, we proposed a new cathode-mediated approach for selective conversion of phenol to p-benzoquinone (p-BQ) through peroxymonosulfate (PMS) activation.