Theoretical and Experimental Study of Flow‐Through Porous Electrodes

Abstract

The paper deals with the study of flow‐through porous electrodes consisting of fixed beds of highly conductive spherical grains. The theoretical treatment is similar to that used to solve chemical engineering problems. It leads to a general expression which allows the calculation of the active volume fraction in an electrode working in industrial operating conditions, and to the subsequent design of such an electrode. The experiments which concern the cathodic deposition of copper from sulfuric solutions allow the determination of effectiveness factors of the electrodes and corresponding effectiveness criterions. For electrodes operated in industrial‐like overpotential ranges, the comparison between theory and experiment is satisfactory.