COMPARATIVE-EVALUATION OF ELECTROREDUCTION OF NITROBENZENE AND M-DINITROBENZENE ON TI/TIO2 ELECTRODES IN H2SO4

Cyclic voltammetric studies of nitrobenzene and m-dinitrobenzene in 1M H2SO4 on thermally coated Ti/TiO2 electrodes indicate heterogeneous redox catalysis for both these compounds. Significant adsorption and blocking effect of these compounds are noticed at higher concentrations. m-Dinitrobenzene (MDNB) exhibits greater inhibitive adsorption when compared to nitrobenzene. These effects, however, do not significantly influence the yield and current efficiency of the reduction of these two nitro compounds to their corresponding amines. Under optimum experimental conditions yields of over 87% nitrobenzene reduction and over 83% m-dinitrobenzene reduction could be achieved. The electrolyte could also be reused by recovering the amines as their sulphates at lower temperatures.