Ionic compounds are made up of positive ions and

negative ions. What ions are in sodium chloride?

The positive and negative ions in an ionic compound attract
each other strongly. It takes a lot of energy to separate them.
When an ionic substance is melted or dissolved in water, the
ions are free to move about within the liquid or solution.
Electrolysis is the breaking down of an ionic compound
(molten or dissolved in water) using electricity. The
substance that is broken down is called the electrolyte.

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An ionic compound conducts electricity when it is molten or in
solution. The current causes the ionic compound
to break down and form new substances.
Electrolysis has many uses, including:
 purifying copper
 plating metals with silver and gold
 extracting reactive metals, such as aluminium
 making chlorine, hydrogen and sodium hydroxide.
Products form
At the cathode At the anode
(negative electrode) (positive electrode)
Non-metal forms by
Metal forms by reduction oxidation

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 Electrolytic cell
Electrodes
are made of
Graphite or platinum
Because they are
1- good conductor
of electricity
2-inert (unreactive)

Electrolyte : The ionic compound in the molten or

aqueous state
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What happens during electrolysis?
The electrolyte contains positive and negative ions.
What happens to these ions during electrolysis?

Negative ions move Positive ions move

to the positive electrode to the negative electrode
and lose electrons. and gain electrons.
This is oxidation. heat This is reduction.

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 Electrolysis of molten PbBr2 – redox equations

What redox processes occur at the

electrodes during the electrolysis
of molten lead bromide (PbBr2)?
At the negative electrode:
Pb2+ + 2e-  Pb (reduction)
At the positive electrode:
2Br-  Br2 + 2e- (oxidation)
What is the overall equation for the electrolysis of molten
lead bromide ?

lead bromide  lead + bromine

PbBr2 (l)  Pb (l) + Br2 (g)

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Why and how is aluminium extracted?
Aluminium is one of the most
useful metals in the world.
Electrolysis is used to extract
aluminium from its ore. Why
is it not possible to extract
aluminium by heating its ore
with carbon?
Aluminium ore (bauxite) has a very high
melting point (2050 °C).
For electrolysis, the ore is dissolved in
a compound called cryolite (Na3AlF6),
which lowers the melting point to 900 °C.

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 Extracting aluminium – redox
equations
What redox processes occur at the
electrodes during the electrolysis
of aluminium oxide (Al2O3)?
At the negative electrode:
Al3+ + 3e-  Al (reduction)
At the positive electrode:
2O2-  O2 + 4e- (oxidation)
What is the overall equation for the extraction of aluminium
by electrolysis?

aluminium oxide  aluminium + oxygen

2 Al2O3 (l)  4 Al (l) + 3 O2 (g)
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 Electrolysis of solution
• When electrolysis is applied for aqueous
solution of ionic compound instead of the
molten ionic compound the products are
different.
• Because the water itself produces ions (weak
electrolyte)
H2O  H+ + OH-

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 Products of electrolysis of NaCl
solution
The electrolysis of sodium chloride solution (Brine)
produces three very useful products:
 Chlorine used for killing bacteria in water,
for bleach and making plastics like PVC.
 Hydrogen used for making margarine
and fertilizers, and for rocket fuel.
 Sodium hydroxide used in many
chemical reactions, such as making soap,
neutralizing acids and making paper.
Chlorine is expected as a product of this process but
hydrogen and sodium hydroxide are surprising products.
What happens at the electrodes to form these products?

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 Why is sodium not formed?
In the electrolysis of sodium chloride
solution, the Na+ ions might be expected
to form sodium at the negative electrode.
Instead, hydrogen gas is produced here.
This is because sodium chloride solution
also contains H+ ions from some of the
water: H2O (l)  H+ (aq) + OH- (aq).

At the negative electrode, the H+ ions compete with the Na+

ions. The H+ ions gain electrons; the Na+ ions stay in solution.

For all ionic compounds containing a metal that is more

reactive than hydrogen, electrolysis of a solution of the
compound will produce hydrogen rather than the metal.

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 Purifying (refining) copper
electrolysis of copper(II)sulfate solution; CuSO4.
The ions present in the solution:
Cu2+, SO42-, H+ and OH-
At the cathode: SO 2-
4
Cu2+
Copper metal forms, Cu , Brown solid OH-
H+
Cu2+ + 2e  Cu reduction
(aq) (s)
At the anode:
Oxygen gas forms, O2, colorless bubbles
4OH-  2H O + O + 4e- oxidation
2 2
The remaining product:
Sulfuric acid H2SO4 remains at the end of the electrolysis

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Purifying copper – redox equations
What happens at the electrodes during the purification
of copper by electrolysis ?
At the negative electrode:
Cu2+ + 2e-  Cu (reduction)
At the positive electrode:
Cu  Cu2+ + 2e- (oxidation)
This process is carried out on a huge scale in industry and
the copper formed on the negative electrodes is 99.99% pure.
The precious metals recovered from the impurities are also
sold off and help to make this industrial process profitable.

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 Electrolysis of solution
electrolysis of copper(II)sulfate solution; CuSO4 using
copper electrode.

At the cathode:
Copper metal forms,Cu , Brown solid
Cu2+(aq) + 2e  Cu (s)
At the anode(+): The cathode become
larger
Copper atoms lose electrons and change to copper ions, dissolving in
the solution
Cu  Cu2+ + 2e The anode become
smaller
*The electrolyte (copper(II)sulfate solution) remain the same

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Electroplating: it is a process used to put thin layer
of one metal on the surface of another metal.

Electroplating is used to:

1- improve the appearance of the object.
2- Protect the object from corrosion.

Electrolytic cell is used for electroplating

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 Electrolytic cell is used for electroplating

Anode is the Cathode is

metal to the object
plate with to be plated

Electrolyte is a solution
of salt of the metal to
plate with
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How electroplating occurs??

To plate an object with a layer of another metal:

1-the metal atoms at the anode lose electrons and change into ions
(dissolve in the solution).
2- these metal ions are attracted to the cathode ( the object to be
plated) and the ions gain electrons and change to atoms and deposit
on the surface of the object.
3- note that the electrolyte should be a solution contains ions of
the metal to plate with and it will stay the same and will never
change (same color and concentration).

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 Electrolytic cell is used for electroplating

To plate a copper ring with silver layer:

Cathode is the
Anode is
copper ring to
silver metal
be plated with
electrode
silver

Electrolyte is a solution
of silver nitrate AgNO3

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 How electroplating occurs??

To plate a copper ring with silver layer:

At the anode:
At the cathode:

Silver atoms lose

Silver ions gain
electrons and
electrons and
change to ions by
change to atoms
oxidation.
by reduction.

Ag(s)  Ag+(aq) +
Ag+(aq) + eAg(s)
e

The silver nitrate solution do not change (same concentration)

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