Titanium Electrodes for Electrolysis

The chlor alkali industry is the earliest scenario to achieve large-scale industrial application of titanium electrodes for electrolysis, and it is currently the galvanolysis field with the largest consumption of titanium electrodes worldwide. In the era of traditional graphite electrode dominated chlor alkali galvanolysis, the working current density of the electrolytic cell is generally lower than 3kA/m ², and the energy consumption per ton of chlorine exceeds 2600kWh. In addition, graphite electrodes corrode rapidly in strong chlorine environments, with an average service life of only 8-12 months. Frequent electrode replacement not only greatly increases the maintenance cost of the production line.

But also leads to the mixing of a large amount of graphite ash in the electrolytic products, and the purity of chlorine gas is difficult to exceed 98% for a long time. With the widespread use of ruthenium iridium coated titanium electrodes, the working current density of modern ion exchange membrane chlor alkali galvanolysis cells has been increased to 5-6kA/m ², and the energy consumption per ton of chlorine has been reduced to below 2200kWh, saving more than 15% energy compared to traditional processes. In a saturated saltwater galvanolysis environment with a high concentration of chloride ions above 300g/L, a dynamically stable passivation protective film will form on the surface, and the continuous stable operation life can reach 8-12 years, which is more than 10 times that of traditional graphite electrodes.

According to publicly available operational data in the domestic chlor alkali industry, a chlor alkali production line with an annual output of 100000 tons can save over 20 million kilowatt hours of electricity annually by using titanium electrodes.

At the same time, the purity of chlorine gas remains stable at 99.9%, fully meeting the high-quality production needs of downstream chemical products such as PVC and epichlorohydrin. At present, more than 95% of modern chlor alkali production lines worldwide have completed the replacement of titanium electrodes, and the penetration rate of titanium electrodes in the domestic chlor alkali industry has reached 100%, completely eliminating the high-energy consumption and high pollution graphite galvanolysis process.

In the new energy galvanolysis industry, titanium electrodes for electrolysis are key equipment for the two core tracks of green hydrogen preparation and lithium copper foil production. In the proton exchange membrane (PEM) water electrolysis hydrogen production scenario, the galvanolysis environment is a strongly acidic system with pH<2. Traditional iron-based and nickel based electrodes will corrode rapidly in a short period of time and cannot operate stably for a long time. However, the high stability titanium anode with iridium tantalum coating can work stably for a long time at high current densities of 2A/cm ² or more, withstand strong acidic environments, and the oxygen evolution overpotential is more than 150mV lower than that of ordinary electrodes, significantly reducing the unit energy consumption of green hydrogen production.

At present, the mainstream megawatt PEM electrolysis cells in China all use customized large-sized anode components, with a single cell hydrogen production capacity of over 1000Nm ³/h and a system hydrogen production power consumption controlled within 4.5kWh/Nm ³, supporting the large-scale cost reduction of the domestic green hydrogen industry. In the production of electrolytic copper foil for lithium batteries, the ti cathode roller with special polishing and modification treatment on the surface is the core component for producing 6 μ m ultra-thin lithium copper foil. The uniform conductivity of the surface ensures the uniform deposition of copper ions on the roller surface. 

The thickness tolerance of the produced ultra-thin copper foil is controlled within ± 0.5 μ m, and the tensile strength exceeds 500MPa, fully meeting the high energy density requirements of new energy lithium batteries.

Public data from top domestic lithium battery copper foil companies shows that ultra-thin copper foils produced using domestically produced high-end ti cathode rollers have a stable yield rate of over 98% and a continuous operating life of over 10 years, completely breaking the previous technological monopoly of overseas companies on high-end ti cathode rollers and supporting the independent and controllable development of the domestic new energy industry chain.

In the production process of sodium chlorate galvanolysis, titanium electrodes can operate stably in high concentration sodium chlorate electrolyte for a long time. The galvanolysis process leads to the dissolution of lead-free ions, and the purity of the produced sodium chlorate product reaches over 99.5%, fully meeting the high-quality raw material requirements for fireworks, firecrackers, and herbicide production. In the context of fine organic electrochemical synthesis, high-purity product can achieve directional organic electrochemical synthesis in diaphragm free galvanolysis systems, such as electrolytic dimerization of adiponitrile and electroreduction of L-cysteine. The high selectivity of product can avoid excessive oxidation of organic molecules, resulting in a product yield of over 90% and significantly reducing the discharge of three wastes in traditional chemical synthesis processes.

In the seawater bromine extraction galvanolysis scenario, titanium electrodes can selectively oxidize bromide ions into elemental bromine in seawater containing 60-70mg/L low concentration bromide ions. The bromine extraction efficiency exceeds 90%, and the continuous operation life of the equipment exceeds 5 years, significantly reducing the production cost of seawater bromine extraction. In addition, it plays an irreplaceable role in dozens of segmented galvanolysis scenarios such as electrolytic silver recovery, electrolytic copper purification, and ozone water galvanolysis generation, and is the core foundational component supporting the efficient operation of the entire modern galvanolysis industry.