Anolyte

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In general, the anolyte is that part of the electrolyte that is directly influenced by the anode during electrolysis . The catholyte is defined analogously .

Technically, the term is broadly defined in that the entire electrolyte in the anode space of a (flow-through) electrolysis reactor separated by a membrane is referred to as the anolyte. In the case of sodium chloride electrolysis, for example, the chloride anions at the anode would be oxidized to chlorine and water at the cathode would be reduced to hydrogen and hydroxide ions. Due to the strongly negative deposition potential of sodium, there is no deposition of the metal. The chlorine partially reacts with water to form hypochlorous acid . Such an electrolytically formed solution of chlorine and hypochlorous acid can be used under the name anolyte in other processes such. B. can be used as an oxidizing agent. The sodium hydroxide solution produced on the cathode in this example process represents the catholyte and can also be used further.

In isoelectric focusing or gel electrophoresis , the solution that creates the contact between the anode and the separation medium is called the anolyte.

literature

  • VM Schmidt, electrochemical process engineering, basics, reaction engineering, process optimization , Wiley-VCH Weinheim, 2003. ISBN 978-3527299584
  • Collective of authors, Oxford Dictionary of Biochemistry and molecular Biology , Oxford University Press, 1997. ISBN 978-0198529170
  • UJ Krull, Encyclopedia of Physical Science and Technology , 3rd Ed., Analytical Chemistry, Academic Press, 2001. ISBN 978-0122274107