Electrosynthesis of Ethylene Glycol from Oxidation of Ethylene Using a TiO2–RuO2/PTFE Gas Diffusion Electrode

This paper reports on an evaluation of the viability of electrochemical technology as a clean alternative for the manufacture of chemicals and raw materials for the chemical industry. In the present work, a (TiO2/RuO2)/PTFE gas diffusion electrode (GDE) was designed for use in the electrochemical conversion of ethylene into ethylene glycol under conditions of simultaneous oxygen evolution. The GDE was produced by pressing and sintering TiO2(0,7)/RuO2(0,3) powder and PTFE and used in the electrosynthesis of ethylene glycol. In the experiments, ethylene was inserted in the reaction medium by the GDE and electrosynthesis was carried out in 0.1 mol L−1 Na2SO4 supporting electrolyte. A solution of 330 mg L−1 of ethylene glycol was obtained in 20 min with the application of 0.7 mA cm−2. During the experiments, the current efficiency was 70% and energy consumption was