The influence of the electrochemically active surface area on the electrocatalytic activity for phenol hydrogenation has been investigated, It is shown that the current efficiency of the reaction does not change significantly for Pt loadings between 2% and 30% whereas a significant decrease in activity is observed for 60% Pt loading, This is used to classify this reaction in terms of its sensitivity, The influence of the electrode material and the alloying component on both current efficiency and on the reaction selectivity is determined. The material and the alloying component which exhibited the best efficiency and selectivity are deduced.