Applications of electrochemistry
Electrochemistry has a number of different uses, particularly in industry. We are going to look at a few examples.
Electroplating
Electroplating is the process of using electrical current to coat an electrically conductive object with a thin layer of metal. Mostly, this application is used to deposit a layer of metal that has some desired property (e.g. abrasion and wear resistance, corrosion protection, improvement of aesthetic qualities etc.) onto a surface that doesn't have that property. Electro-refining (also sometimes called electrowinning is electroplating on a large scale. Electrochemical reactions are used to deposit pure metals from their ores. One example is the electrowinning of copper.
Copper plays a major role in the electrical industry as it is very conductive and is used in electric cables. One of the problems though is that copper must be pure if it is to be an effective current carrier. One of the methods used to purify copper, is electrowinning. The copper electrowinning process is as follows: