THE ROLE OF TEMPERATURE IN OXALIC-ACID ELECTROREDUCTION

The importance of temperature on the synthesis of glyoxylic acid from the electroreduction of oxalic acid is discussed. The synthesis involves an E(a).C(r).E. mechanism in which adsorption plays a crucial part in the first electrochemical step [E(a)] and in which temperature is important in the chemical step (C(r)). Experimental polarization data are used to obtain a model of the kinetically controlled reduction of glyoxylic acid. This model enables the effect of temperature and current density to be predicted during both batch and continuous electrosynthesis. Notably, the occurrence of equilibrium concentrations of glyoxylic acid under a range of operating conditions is an important feature.