Peroxide-on-demand: Improved materials for the electrochemical synthesis of technical peroxides
Production of technical peroxides using electric current
The compound class of peroxides plays an important role in many industrial and commercial sectors, for example as reaction partners in the chemical industry, as bleaching agents, for disinfection or for metal etching. So-called technical peroxides (e.g. percarbonate, persulphate, peracetic acid), which must first be produced from hydrogen peroxide, are mainly used here. The process normally used to produce hydrogen peroxide is an energy-intensive process that releases considerable amounts of carbon dioxide. Although approaches such as the electrochemical synthesis of hydrogen peroxide, which alternatively only use electric current as a reaction partner, are relatively well developed, a direct electrochemical synthesis of technical peroxides has not yet been comprehensively described.
In this context, the PerDemand project is developing materials and processes for the electrochemical synthesis of technical peroxides using renewable energies and evaluating their potential areas of application. At the same time, the extent to which raw material efficiency can be increased by recycling the materials used is to be investigated. In order to enable a targeted transfer of the project results, the industrial relevance of the knowledge gained will be continuously reviewed.
In order to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in large-scale industrial processes, the demand for suitable components and materials for electrochemical processes will increase continuously over the next few years. In this context, the work in the PerDemand project to develop appropriate systems for the production of technical peroxides represents an important building block in the shift away from energy-intensive processes towards environmentally friendly alternatives.
