Unprecedented reactive electro-mixing reactor: Towards synergy between micro- and macro-reactors?

Over the last century, electrochemistry has contributed to societal progress through the development of electrochemical industrial processes. Since the first battery was proposed by Alessandro Volta in 1799, the vision of the electrochemical cell has not changed significantly: static electrodes (or semi-static in rotating disk and cylinder systems) are immersed in an electrolyte while the solution is either stirred for better homogenization or pumped between or through the electrodes. This work intends to induce a paradigm shift in the design of electrochemical cells that could have tremendous positive impacts on the mechanisms (e.g. transfers), the process efficiency and the scalability of electrochemical processes. It is proposed to set whole thin film electrochemical cells in motion within a stirred tank macro-reactor, with the aim of synergistically combining the properties characteristic of the micro-scale in thin film reactors with those of the macro-reactor. This paper highlights the superiority of the unprecedented reactive electro-mixing reactor in water treatment, i.e. 1.32 times higher degradation efficiency and 20 times lower energy requirement than a conventional filter-press cell. It further announces the birth of a new reactive electro-mixing sub-discipline that should lead to many other scientific studies and industrial applications.