Direct electrochemical reduction of indigo

Abstract

Increasing ecoefficiency of textile wet processes has become an important topic in our research group. Reducing agents required for the application of vat and sulfur dyes cannot be recycled, and they lead to problematic waste products. Therefore, modern aspects of economical and ecological requirements are not fulfilled. The application of direct electrochemical reduction of indigo as a novel route has been investigated by spectrophotometric and voltammetric experiments in laboratory cells. Experiments yield information about the reaction mechanism and the kinetics, and they show the possibility of this new route for production of water-soluble indigo, which offers tremendous environmental benefits.