The performance of the Electro-Fenton (EF) process for contaminant degradation depends on the rate of H₂O₂ production at the cathode via 2-electron dissolved O₂ reduction. However, the low solubility of O₂ (≈1 × 10⁻³ mol dm⁻³) limits H₂O₂ production. Herein, a novel and practical strategy that enables the synergistic utilization of O₂ from the bulk electrolyte and ambient air for efficient H₂O₂ production is proposed. Compared with a conventional “submerged” cathode, the H₂O₂ concentration obtained using the “floating” cathode is 4.3 and 1.5 times higher using porous graphite felt (GF) and reticulated vitreous carbon (RVC) foam electrodes, respectively. This surprising enhancement results from the formation of a three-phase interface inside the porous cathode, where the O₂ from ambient air is also utilized for H₂O₂ production. The contribution of O₂ from ambient air varies depending on the cathode material and is calculated to be 76.7% for the GF cathode and 35.6% for the RVC foam cathode. The effects of pH, current, and mixing on H₂O₂ production are evaluated. Finally, the EF process enhanced by the “floating” cathode degraded 78.3% of the anti-inflammatory drug ibuprofen after 120 min compared to only 25.4% using a conventional “submerged” electrode, without any increase in the cost.

Electro-Fenton (EF) 工艺降解污染物的性能取决于阴极通过 2 电子溶解 O ₂还原产生 H ₂ O ₂的速率。然而，O ₂的低溶解度(≈1×10 ^-3 mol dm ^-3 )限制了H ₂ O _{2 的}产生。在此，提出了一种新颖且实用的策略，该策略能够协同利用来自本体电解质和环境空气的O ₂来高效生产H ₂ O ₂ 。与传统的“浸入式”阴极相比，使用多孔石墨毡（GF）和网状玻璃碳（RVC）泡沫电极的“浮动”阴极获得的H ₂ O ₂浓度分别高出4.3倍和1.5倍。这种令人惊讶的增强是由于多孔阴极内部三相界面的形成造成的，其中来自环境空气的O ₂也被用于H ₂ O ₂的生产。来自环境空气的O ₂的贡献根据阴极材料而变化，并且经计算，GF阴极为76.7%，RVC泡沫阴极为35.6%。评估了 pH、电流和混合对 H ₂ O ₂产生的影响。最后，通过“浮动”阴极增强的 EF 过程在 120 分钟后降解了 78.3% 的抗炎药物布洛芬，而使用传统的“浸没”电极仅降解了 25.4%，且成本没有增加。