Voltammetric Comparison of the Electrochemical Oxidation of Toluene on Monolithic and Reticulated Glassy Carbon Electrodes in Aqueous Medium

The electrochemical oxidation of toluene in aqueous-acid medium was studied on monolithic and reticulated glassy carbon electrodes using cyclic voltammetry.The oxidation potential was 1.7 V for both electrodes.However, the normalized oxidation currents were higher on reticulated glassy carbon, showing more catalytic activity than on the monolithic glassy carbon.To normalize the obtained anodic current values, a method for the determination of the electrodes effective area was used, which consists in the underpotential deposition of a copper monolayer.