In this paper the electrochem. promotion of RuO2 catalyst was studied for the oxidn. of C2H4 to CO2 and H2O. The reaction rate can be increased of up to a factor of 115 by anodic polarization. A kinetic model for the simulation of the open circuit reaction rate is postulated. The model was found to be not applicable during polarization. The formation of a higher ruthenium oxide and/or the formation of backspillover species are supposed to affect the proposed model. [on SciFinder (R)]