Anodic electrocatalytic conversion of carboxylic acids on thin films of RuO2, IrO2, and Pt

•Pt foil and thin films (TFs) of RuO2 and IrO2 are active for electrocatalytic decarboxylation (ECDX) of valeric acid at ambient conditions.•Rates of ECDX and O2 evolution increase with potential, while the ECDX selectivity depends also on anode composition.•RuO2-TF is selective toward non-Kolbe products while Pt is selective toward Kolbe products.•The ECDX activity of RuO2-TF is similar to that of Pt foil per geometric area but is one order of magnitude more active per gram of metal.•Turnover frequencies of ECDX were at least one order of magnitude higher than thermocatalytic decarboxylation at 300 °C.