Effect of process parameters on the concentration,current efficiency and energy consumption of electro-generated silver(II)

Electro-membrane generation of Ag(II) in nitric acid was experimentally explored in a three-electrode laboratory cell with respect to various operating parameters. DSA-O₂, titanium plate and saturated Ag/AgCl were employed as the anode, cathode and reference electrode, respectively. The considered process parameters included anolyte temperature and Ag(I) initial concentration, electrolysis time, current density and supporting electrolyte concentration. Parameter effect on the Ag(II) concentration, current density and energy consumption were determined by the Taguchi and ANOVA methods for test design and data analysis, respectively. The results revealed that current density, AgNO₃ concentration and temperature had noticeable effect on the generation of Ag(II). On the other hand, AgNO₃ concentration and current density showed the most dominant effect on the Ag(II) current efficiency: 48.5% and 30.3%, respectively. AgNO₃ concentration and current density were also found to have the highest effect on the energy consumption: 72.4% and 15.9%, respectively. Validity of the Taguchi method was also assessed by collecting the actual data.