Due to the enormous demand for clean energy generation and for efficient energy storage, developing green and storable energy has become an urgent task. This subject, thus, stimulates studies on the improvement of new electrocatalysts. Specifically, through improving the population of active sites and/or the activity of individual sites, the performance of the catalysts can be significantly improved. However, clarifying the contribution of these two factors is still ambiguous and must be done with great care. To allow researchers in related fields to present their findings objectively, having a clear insight into the electrocatalytic activity is indispensable. In this study, a series of cobalt‐based pre‐electrocatalysts are taken as an example to examine their corresponding oxygen evolution reaction (OER) behaviors. Wherein, the three important metrics – electrochemical active surface area (ECSA)/roughness factor (RF), Tafel slope, and turnover frequency (TOF) – are used to profile the population of active sites of electrocatalysts and the activity of related individual sites. The results indicate the correction of OER behavior by ECSA/RF manifests the more accurate identification of OER activity. Meanwhile, the timing to obtain RF/ECSA significantly influence such an evaluation. Altogether, a fair benchmarking is proposed for the comparison between the activities of electrocatalysts.

中文翻译：

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全面探讨位活性和活性位对多相电催化的贡献

由于对清洁能源发电和高效能源存储的巨大需求，开发绿色和可存储的能源已成为紧迫的任务。因此，该主题激发了关于新型电催化剂改进的研究。具体地，通过改善活性位点的总数和/或单个位点的活性，可以显着改善催化剂的性能。但是，澄清这两个因素的作用仍然模棱两可，必须格外小心。为了使相关领域的研究人员能够客观地介绍他们的发现，对电催化活性有清晰的了解是必不可少的。在本研究中，以一系列钴基预电催化剂为例，研究了它们相应的氧释放反应（OER）行为。其中，电化学活性表面积（ECSA）/粗糙度因子（RF），塔菲尔斜率和周转频率（TOF）这三个重要指标用于描述电催化剂活性部位的数量和相关部位的活性。结果表明，通过ECSA / RF对OER行为的校正显示了对OER活性的更准确识别。同时，获得RF / ECSA的时机显着影响了这种评估。总体而言，提出了一个公平的基准测试，用于比较电催化剂的活性。结果表明，通过ECSA / RF对OER行为的校正显示了对OER活性的更准确识别。同时，获得RF / ECSA的时间会明显影响这种评估。总体而言，提出了一个公平的基准测试，用于比较电催化剂的活性。结果表明，通过ECSA / RF对OER行为的校正显示了对OER活性的更准确识别。同时，获得RF / ECSA的时间会明显影响这种评估。总体而言，提出了一个公平的基准测试，用于比较电催化剂的活性。