Anode-Boosted Electrolysis in Electrochemical Upgrading of Bio-oils and in the Production of H2

Oxidizing an organic solute at the anode of an electrolysis cell can enhance the overall cell current, I, by supplementing the applied cell potential by an amount, Eboost, the difference in potential required to achieve the observed rate in the presence and absence of the organic. We have found that when the organic solute is methanol at concentrations, C, corresponding to a chemical oxygen demand <25 g/L (in the range of that of wastewater or process water from hydrothermal liquefaction), then the effect of the anode-boosting becomes a strong function of the product of C and the cell current, I. Empirically, the boosting follows Hill-Langmuir kinetics, consistent with the cooperativity in the transport of the organic into the double-layer of the anode.