Electrochemical promoted catalysis: Towards practical utilization

Abstract

Electrochemical promotion (EP) of catalysis has already been recognized as "a valuable development in catalytic research" (J. Pritchard, 1990) and as "one of the most remarkable advances in electrochemistry since 1950" (J. O'M. Bockris, 1996). Laboratory studies have clearly elucidated the phenomenology of electrochemical promotion and have proven that EP is a general phenomenon at the interface of catalysis and electrochemistry. The major progress toward practical utilization of EP is surveyed in this paper. The focus is given on the electropromotion of industrial ammonia synthesis catalyst, the bipolar EP and the development of a novel monolithic electropromoted reactor (MEPR) in conjunction with the electropromotion of thin sputtered metal films. Future perspectives of electrochemical promotion applications in the field of hydrogen technologies are discussed.