POLYMER ELECTROLYTE-TYPE ELECTROCHEMICAL OZONE GENERATOR WITH AN OXYGEN CATHODE

A new electrochemical ozone generator which has a proton exchange poly mer membrane as an electrolyte, pure water as a source material and an oxygen diffusion electrode as a cathode was proposed to eliminate hyd rogen evolution on the cathode and also to reduce electrolytic power c onsumption. The device was evaluated under varied operating conditions changing current density, temperature and oxygen flow rate. The water permeable high performance gas electrode enabled current density oper ation over 1.0 A cm-2 without generating hydrogen gas in the cathode s ide outlet gas. The power consumption was successfully reduced to two thirds of that of the hydrogen evolution type electrolyzer over a peri od of three months' operation.