A Facile Method to Realize Oxygen Reduction at the Hydrogen Evolution Cathode of an Electrolytic Cell for Energy-Efficient Electrooxidation.
Zhiqiang ZhaoLu LiuLuofu MinWen ZhangYuxin WangPublished in: Materials (Basel, Switzerland) (2021)
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.
Keyphrases
- ionic liquid
- low cost
- electron transfer
- carbon nanotubes
- reduced graphene oxide
- gold nanoparticles
- human health
- ion batteries
- induced apoptosis
- hydrogen peroxide
- risk assessment
- molecularly imprinted
- heavy metals
- single cell
- cell cycle arrest
- label free
- particulate matter
- cell therapy
- solar cells
- room temperature
- nitric oxide
- quantum dots
- cell death
- health risk assessment
- cell proliferation
- bone marrow
- highly efficient
- mass spectrometry
- liquid chromatography
- solid phase extraction