Electrochemical Studies of Coal Slurry Oxidation Mechanisms

Oxidation of a coal slurry solution at platinum electrodes in strong acidic media has been studied in detail. The results indicate that the iron ions leached out from coal are responsible for major anodic currents. The Fe(II) is electrolytically oxidized to Fe(III) at the anode, which oxidizes coal to various products including The rate constants for the catalytic reaction are determined to be for Fe(III) and Ce(IV), respectively. The activation energy for the processes are 13.3 and 7.0 kcal/mol for Fe(III) and Ce(IV). Current efficiencies for production are .