Determination of ruthenium and tin on electrochemical anodes by energy-dispersive X-ray fluorescence

"Dimensionally Stable Anodes" (DSA)(R) have gained wide acceptance in electrochemical production of chlorine and caustic soda. The DSAs are usually composed of electrocatalytic layers of precious and non-precious metal oxides produced by thermal decomposition of salts on a valve-metal substrate (e.g., titanium). They have long lifetimes (some years) in commercial service, and accelerated aging is used in testing them. In these tests the cell potential is stable for most of the anode life. Failure of an anode is characterized by a rapid increase in potential to beyond the point of practical operation of the cell. Non-destructive X-ray techniques have been utilized to investigate the mechanism involved. It has been established that the precious metal content has been reduced by 50-60% when the anodes fail. Although present DSA coatings are more than adequate for commercial applications, there is continuing interest in improving them. The materials for DSA formulation include the precious metals iridium, ruthenium and rhodium, the non-precious metals tin, antimony and manganese, and the valve metals titanium and tantalum.