A Facile Method to Realize Oxygen Reduction at the Hydrogen Evolution Cathode of an Electrolytic Cell for Energy-Efficient Electrooxidation

Abstract

Electrochemical oxidation, widely used in green production and pollution abatement, is often accompanied by the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER), which results in a high consumption of electricity and is a potential explosion hazard. To solve this problem, we report here a method for converting the original HER cathode into one that enables the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) without having to build new electrolysis cells or be concerned about electrolyte leakage from the O2 gas electrode. The viability of this method is demonstrated using the electrolytic production of ammonium persulfate (APS) as an example. The original carbon black electrode for the HER is converted to an ORR electrode by first undergoing in situ anodization and then contacting O2 or air bubbled from the bottom of the electrode. With this sole change, APS production can achieve an electric energy saving of up to 20.3%. Considering the ease and low cost of this modification, such significant electricity savings make this method very promising in the upgrade of electrochemical oxidation processes, with wide potential applications.

Effect of Rotating Magnetic Field on Hydrogen Production from Electrolytic Water

“…Under standard conditions, the density of hydrogen is 0.0899 g/L, which is 1/14 of the air quality. Hydrogen is the lightest and most common element in nature [2]. Under normal temperature, the nature of hydrogen is very stable, it is not easy to dissolve in water, and it is not easy to have chemical reaction with other substances.…”

Two-step facile synthesis of Co3O4@C reinforced PbO2 coated electrode to promote efficient oxygen evolution reaction for zinc electrowinning

“…For instance, TiO 2 nanotubes/network as an interlayer and gas electrodes made of carbon black (CB) supported on a titanium grid and combined with polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) have shown good stability in the field of electrochemistry. 52–54…”

“…For instance, TiO 2 nanotubes/network as an interlayer and gas electrodes made of carbon black (CB) supported on a titanium grid and combined with polytetrauoroethylene (PTFE) have shown good stability in the eld of electrochemistry. [52][53][54] The cell voltage of the zinc electrowinning process was the leading cause of excessive energy consumption, which consisted of the following ve main components:…”