Study of the Electrochemical Oxygen Pump Based on Solid Polymer Electrolyte

Abstract

Electrochemical process of atmospheric oxygen concentration in a modified electrolytic cell with a solid polymeric electrolyte and cathode depolarized by atmospheric oxygen was experimentally studied. The influence exerted by various factors (catalyst hydrophobicity, temperature, pressure, and air supply rate) on the process efficiency was examined. It was shown that the energy consumption for obtaining high-purity oxygen in this process can be reduced by 50–75% as compared with obtaining oxygen by electrolysis of water. The highest activity was observed for Pt40V catalyst (40 wt % Pt on Vulcan XC-72 carbon black) containing 10 wt % fluoroplastic.