This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project is in the general area of analytical and surface chemistry and in the subfield of electrochemistry. The thrust of this experimental activity is the evaluation of fluorinated vitreous carbon materials as anodes for the electrooxidative preparation of inorganic persulfates. The presently known electrochemical methods for the production of these chemicals, which are used as bleaching and oxidizing agents and as etching solutions in the electronics industry, use platinum anodes which leads to high initial capital and operating costs, especially since the platinum anodes are partially consumed under the extreme conditions necessary for persulfate production. The alternative anode material that is being evaluated in this Phase I activity is specifically fluorinated carbon. This substance is a stabilized form of carbon which is fluorinated only at the edge sites, grain boundaries, dislocations, and other defects, thus rendering this carbon resistive to oxidative attack at these sites. This research will investigate the effectiveness of the fluorination treatment in increasing anode lifetime and lead to the definition of conditions for the successful operation of persulfate electrosynthesis cells using these improved anodes.
