Applications of

Electrochemistry
 Lesson 21.1
Batteries and
Fuels
Battery

is an electrochemical cell.

It is a self-contained group of voltaic cells arranged in plus-to-

minus-to-plus series so that their voltages are added together.

In everyday context, the term may also be applied to a single

voltaic cell.
Different types of Batteries

Primary Batteries
also known as nonchargeable batteries. It is discarded
when its components have reached their equilibrium
concentrations.

They are called "dead" batteries when their components are

already consumed.
Ex:
- alkaline batteries
- mercury and silver (button) batteries
 Secondary
lead-acid battery
batteries

are rechargeable batteries.

They can be recharged when it runs down by supplying electrical

energy to reverse the cell reaction and reform the reactant.
lithium-ion battery
Its voltaic cells are periodically converted to electrolytic cells to
restore nonequilibrium concentrations of the cell components.
 Leclanché Dry Cell

Leclanché cell

A common primary battery.

It is a traditional general-purpose dry cell invented by

the French engineer Georges Leclanché in 1866.

The Leclanché cell is a zinc-carbon primary battery.

Button Batteries
Mercury and silver batteries are commonly known as
button batteries because both are manufactured as
small button-sized primary batteries.

The two are quite similar; they use a zinc container as the
anode (reducing agent) in a basic medium.

The mercury battery uses HgO as the oxidizing agent, the

silver uses Ag2O, and both use a steel can around the
cathode.
 fuel cells
also known as flow batteries.

It is not a self-contained battery.

The reactants are usually combustible fuel, and oxygen

enters the cell, and the products leave, generating
electricity through the controlled oxidation of the fuel.
Lesson 21.2
Corrosion
Corrosion is the deterioration of metals because of an electrochemical
process. The rust on iron, the tarnish on silver, and the blue-green
patina that develops on copper are all examples of the formation of
corrosion in metals.

example:

The Statue of Liberty was a prominent landmark in

America given by France on October 28, 1886. It was
built by Gustave Eiffel, the famous engineer who
built the Eiffel Tower in Paris.

 The reactions of copper metal in the environment occur in multiple

steps; First, Copper
metal is oxidized to copper(I) oxide (Cu2O), which is red, and then to
copper(II) oxide, which
is black.

These three compounds caused the characteristic blue-

green patina seen today. Luckily, the formation of the patina
created a protective layer on its surface, preventing further
corrosion of the copper skin.
One of the most familiar corrosion that we can see in por
daily basis is the rust on iron. Rust can only be formed when
an Iron is exposed to oxygen and water. Here is the
significant steps in the formation of rust in iron when it is
exposed to teh atmosphere, it rapidly oxidized.
How do we prevent corrosion

There are various methods of preventing corrosion on metals, such as:

○ coating with paint;

○ metal plating;
○ passivation, the process where a thin oxide layer is produced as a product
of
the metal that is treated with a potent oxidizing agent such as concentrated
nitric acid; and
○ cathodic protection, a method to protect the metal from corrosion is to
make it the cathode in a galvanic cell.

Also, the more active metals are called sacrificial anodes a type of cathodic
protection where a less noble material that acts as a sacrificial anode is
connected by metallic conductors to the structure to be protected. It is
because as they get used up as they corrode at the anode. The metal being
protected is the cathode, so does not rust. If the anodes are correctly
monitored and periodically replaced, the useful lifetime of the
iron storage tank can be greatly extended.
 Lesson 21.3 Applications of Electrolysis

Electrorefining
is the procedure for improving the purity of an extracted metal
using its ore.

In electrorefining, the electrode at which the pure metal will be

deposited is called the cathode, while the anode is the impure
metal that needs to be refined. The electrodes are immersed in
a liquid electrolyte solution consisting of the metal's molten salt
or its aqueous solution.
ions. The following equations, where M is the metal to be refined
and n is the number of electrons, represent the processes that
take place at the anode and the cathode:
 Applications of Electrolysis

Electroplating
is the process of plating one metal onto another
through electrolysis.

The metal that will be electroplated on the cathode is known as the anode in this process. The electrodes are
immersed in an electrolyte solution containing the metal ions, just like in electrorefining. These ions are drawn
to the cathode, where they are broken down into metal atoms and deposited to create a metal coating. The
following equations, where M is the metal to be refined and n is the number of electrons, represent the
processes that take place at the anode and the cathode:
 Applications of Electrolysis

Electrocleaning

is the process of cleaning a metal surface through electrolysis. It is often

used to prepare the base metals before electroplating.

The metal being cleaned during electrocleaning may serve as either the anode or the
cathode. There are two procedures in electrocleaning.

Anodic electrocleaning

is another name for reverse-current electrocleaning. The material

Alkaline solution is used as the cleaning agent, and the object being cleaned is connected to
the positive terminal of the power source (the anode). At the anode, oxidation takes place,
slightly removing the metal to get rid of metallic remnants.

Cathodic electrocleaning

is also referred to as direct-current electrocleaning. The acidic cleaning solution is used, and the metal
being cleaned is connected to the cathode's negative terminal on the DC power supply. The H+ ions of
the acidic cleaning solution are reduced to generate bubbles of H2 gas near the cathode, which aids in
the removal of impurities.
.
chlor-alkali process
is the process of electrolyzing aqueous NaCl to produce Cl2
gas and NaOH.

In the chlor-alkali process, inert electrodes such as graphite are

used. These electrodes are
submerged in an electrolyte solution of aqueous NaCl. In the anode,
the reaction occurring
is the oxidation of Cl- to Cl2
 Lesson 21.4
Quantitative Aspects of Electrolysis

Michael Faraday

He was born on Sept. 22, 1791, in Newington

Butts, England.
discovered electromagnetic induction
discovered benzene and chloroethane
liquified chlorine gas for the first time
discovered what is later known as metallic
nanoparticles
 Current, Time, and Faraday’s Constant

Current, Stand for I, is the measure of electric charge that flows in an electric
circuit in one second. It has units of amperes (A), which can be further defined as
Coulombs per second (C/s). At a given period of time (t), the total amount of
electric charge (Q) transferred in a circuit.

Faraday’s constant, denoted by F, is the amount of electric charge

carried by one mole of electrons. It has a value of 96485 Coulombs
per mole electron.
 Faraday’s Laws of Electrolysis.

Faraday’s first law of electrolysis

The mass of any substance deposited at any electrode is directly proportional to the quantity
of electric charge that passed through it. In other words, where, Q is the electric charge in
Coulombs and m is the mass of the substance deposited.

Where:
m = mass of a substance (in grams) deposited or liberated at an electrode.
Q = amount of charge (in coulombs) or electricity passed through it

On removing the proportionality in equation (1)

m=ZQ

Where Z is the proportionality constant. Its unit is grams per coulomb (g/C). It is also called
the electrochemical equivalent. Z is the mass of a substance deposited at electrodes during
electrolysis bypassing 1 coulomb of charge.
 Faraday’s Laws of Electrolysis.

Faraday’s second law of electrolysis

if the same amount of electric charge is passed through several electrolytes, then the mass of the substances deposited at
∝
the electrodes is directly proportional to their equivalent weights. Mathematically it can be represented as w E.

Where

w = mass of the substance

E = equivalent weight of the substance

It can also be expressed as – w1/w2=E1/E2

The equivalent weight or chemical equivalent of a substance can be defined as the ratio of its atomic weight and valency.

Equivalent weight=Atomic weight/Valency