What is the Difference Between Electrolytic Reduction and Refining?
🆚 Go to Comparative Table 🆚The key difference between electrolytic reduction and refining lies in the structure of the electrodes and the purpose of the processes.
Electrolytic Reduction:
- Reduces oxides, hydroxides, and chlorides of metals electrically.
- Obtains pure metal through extraction.
- Uses graphite electrodes of the same size.
- Reduces metals into low oxidation states, enabling easy extraction.
Electrolytic Refining:
- Refines impure metals.
- Uses an impure metal as the anode and a cathode made of the same pure metal.
- Initially, the cathode is thick, and the anode is very thin.
- Upon the application of an electric current, impure metal in the anode dissolves in the electrolytic solution and deposits on the cathode.
In summary, electrolytic reduction is a process that reduces compounds of metals into pure metals using electrodes, while electrolytic refining is a method used to purify impure metals by depositing them onto a cathode made of the same pure metal.
Comparative Table: Electrolytic Reduction vs Refining
Here is a table comparing the differences between electrolytic reduction and refining:
| Electrolytic Reduction | Electrolytic Refining |
|---|---|
| Process of reducing metals via electrolysis | Process of extracting metals using electrolysis |
| Two graphite electrodes of the same size are used as anode and cathode | Impure metal is used as anode, while a thin sheet of pure metal is used as cathode |
| Reduction of oxides, hydroxides, and chlorides of metals electrically | Separation of residual impurities like Si and phosphorus |
| Used for highly active metals like Na, K, Ca, Mg, Al | Used for metals that cannot be reduced by other methods |
| Electrolytic reduction of oxides of these metals is used because they have a great affinity for oxygen than carbon | Electrolytic refining depends on the nature of the metal, purpose for which the metal is to be obtained, and the nature of the impurities present |
In summary, electrolytic reduction is a process that reduces oxides, hydroxides, and chlorides of metals electrically, while electrolytic refining is a method used to separate residual impurities from metals. The choice between these methods depends on the specific metal, its impurities, and the intended application.
- Electrowinning vs Electrorefining
- Electroplating vs Electrolysis
- Electrolyte vs Electrolysis
- Electrochemical Cell vs Electrolytic Cell
- Ionization vs Electrolysis
- Hydrogenation vs Reduction
- Electroforming vs Electroplating
- Molten vs Aqueous Electrolysis
- Oxidation vs Reduction
- Electrolysis vs Laser
- Metallic vs Electrolytic Conduction
- Refining vs Fractional Distillation
- Electrolytic vs Galvanic Cells
- Voltaic Cell vs Electrolytic Cell
- Electrophoretic Deposition vs Electrodeposition
- Oxidation Reaction vs Reduction Reaction
- Standard Electrode Potential vs Standard Reduction Potential
- Electrode vs Electrolyte
- Electropolishing vs Passivation