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At the cathode (C), water is reduced to hydroxide and hydrogen gas. The net process is the electrolysis of an aqueous solution of NaCl into industrially useful products sodium hydroxide (NaOH) and chlorine gas. Saturated brine is passed into the first chamber of the cell.
The Downs cell uses a carbon anode and an iron cathode.The electrolyte is sodium chloride that has been heated to the liquid state. Although solid sodium chloride is a poor conductor of electricity, when molten the sodium and chloride ions are mobilized, which become charge carriers and allow conduction of electric current.
Chlorine can be manufactured by the electrolysis of a sodium chloride solution , which is known as the Chloralkali process. The production of chlorine results in the co-products caustic soda (sodium hydroxide, NaOH) and hydrogen gas (H 2). These two products, as well as chlorine itself, are highly reactive.
An example is the electrolysis of an aqueous sodium chloride solution—although oxygen should be produced at the anode based on its potential, bubble overpotential causes chlorine to be produced instead, which allows the easy industrial production of chlorine and sodium hydroxide by electrolysis.
The first type, shown on the right and left of the diagram, uses an electrolyte of sodium chloride solution, a graphite anode (A), and a mercury cathode (M). The other type of cell, shown in the center of the diagram, uses an electrolyte of sodium hydroxide solution, a mercury anode (M), and an iron cathode (D). The mercury electrode is common ...
That is, energy is added to sodium chloride (table salt) in water, producing sodium hypochlorite and hydrogen gas. Because the reaction takes place in an unpartitioned cell and NaOH is present in the same solution as the Cl 2: 2 NaCl + 2 H 2 O → 2 NaOH + H 2 + Cl 2. any Cl 2 disproportionates to hypochlorite and chloride Cl 2 + 2 NaOH → ...
Sodium chloride that has been dissolved in water can also be electrolyzed. The anode oxidizes the chloride ions (Cl −), and produces chlorine (Cl 2) gas. However, at the cathode, instead of sodium ions being reduced to sodium metal, water molecules are reduced to hydroxide ions (OH −) and hydrogen gas (H 2).
Electrolysis is a technique that uses a direct electric current (DC). [citation needed] The components of an electrolytic cell are: [citation needed] an electrolyte: usually a solution of water or other solvents in which ions are dissolved. Molten salts such as sodium chloride are also electrolytes.