Electrochemical engineering of anodic oxygen evolution in molten oxides

Molten oxide electrolysis (MOE) is a metal extraction process that exhibits an exceptionally high productivity in comparison with other electrowinning techniques. Furthermore, MOE has the ability to generate oxygen as an environmentally benign byproduct, which is a key asset to improve metal extract...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Allanore, Antoine (Contributor)
Other Authors: Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Materials Science and Engineering (Contributor)
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Elsevier, 2016-03-30T16:29:06Z.
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Summary:Molten oxide electrolysis (MOE) is a metal extraction process that exhibits an exceptionally high productivity in comparison with other electrowinning techniques. Furthermore, MOE has the ability to generate oxygen as an environmentally benign byproduct, which is a key asset to improve metal extraction sustainability. From an electrochemical engineering standpoint, the high concentration of metal cations dissolved in the electrolyte justifies cathode current densities above 10,000 A m[superscript −2]. At the anode, the available data suggest a mechanism of oxidation of the free oxide anions which concentration in oxide melts is reported to be limited. In this context, the application of available mass-transfer correlations for the anodic oxygen evolution suggests a key role of convection induced by gas bubbles evolution.