Mass transfer and hydrodynamic characterization of structured 3D electrodes for electrochemistry

Electrochemical reactors are more and more equipped with 3D electrodes such as foams and felts instead of flat electrodes, because of their large surface area and ability to reduce mass transfer limitation. Being a surface process, mass transfer limitation in electrochemical reactors limits productivity and can even result in unwanted side reactions. While 3D electrodes such as foams and felts are a significant improvement, they come with a high operating cost in terms of pumping power. Its irregular shape inflicts pressure drops three to four orders of magnitude higher than an open conduit equipped with a flat electrode. In this work we present structured 3D electrode designs derived from static mixers. Intended to maximize mass transfer at a minimal pressure drop these static mixer-derived electrodes result in similar mass transfer performance and hence electrochemical behavior as the commercial felt electrodes, but at a pressure drop that is two orders of magnitude lower. Due to their regularly structured design with a focus on minimal pressure drop these electrodes surpass the current state-of-the-art felt electrodes.

Publication year:2020

Keywords:A1 Journal article

BOF-keylabel:yes

BOF-publication weight:10

CSS-citation score:1

Authors from:Government

Accessibility:Open