ELECTROSYNTHESIS AT HIGH SURFACE AREA CARBON AND GRAPHITE ANODES

THE NUMBER OF STABLE, INEXPENSIVE ANODE MATERIALS AVAILABLE FOR THE ELECTROSYNTHESIS OF CHEMICALS IS QUITE LIMITED. A SERIES OF HIGH SURFACE AREA CARBONS AND GRAPHITES ARE PROPOSED AS NEW ANODE MATERIALS FOR A VARIETY OF ELECTROCHEMICAL PROCESSES. THESE MATERIALS HAVE BEEN FOUND TO BE STABLE IN STRONGLY ACIDIC MEDIA AT HIGH OXIDATION POTENTIALS. THE EFFECTIVENESS OF THE HIGH SURFACE ELECTRODES VS. PLATINUM WILL BE EVALUATED FOR FOUR INDUSTRIALLY IMPORTANT ELECTROCHEMICAL PROCESSES. THESE INCLUDE THE SYNTHESIS OF SODIUM PERCHLORATE, PERSULFATE, OZONE, AND DIMETHYL SEBACATE. IT IS BELIEVED THAT THESE NEWELECTRODE MATERIALS WILL PROVIDE EQUIVALENT OR BETTER PERFORMANCE THAN PLATINUM, RESULTING IN LOWER CELL CAPITAL AND OPERATING COSTS FOR THE PRODUCTION OF THE DESIRED CHEMICALS. RESEARCH IN PHASE II WILL CONTINUE THESE STUDIES IN LARGER SCALE ELECTROCHEMICAL FLOW CELLS, AND WILL ALSO EXAMINE OTHER POTENTIAL SYNTHETIC PROCESSES.