Flow reactors give electrochemists continuous, well-defined mass transport — the missing variable when batch cells stall on diffusion or gas management. This collection covers liquid-phase flow reactors used for electrosynthesis, electrocatalyst screening, and pilot-scale process development, where steady-state operation under controlled flow rate, residence time, and temperature is more informative than a stirred beaker.
Typical use cases on this catalog:
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Electroorganic synthesis — paired-electrode oxidations and reductions where short interelectrode gap and high mass-transfer coefficient suppress over-oxidation and improve faradaic efficiency.
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CO2 reduction and water electrolysis screening — flow-cell formats with gas-diffusion-electrode (GDE) compartments, anion- or proton-exchange membrane separators, and dedicated catholyte / anolyte loops.
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Redox-flow chemistry studies — small single-cell test fixtures used to measure polarization curves, crossover, and cycling stability of vanadium, iron, and organic redox couples before stack scale-up.
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Continuous catalyst evaluation — running an electrocatalyst at fixed potential or current density with online sampling, instead of intermittent CV.
What to look for when choosing a flow reactor:
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Cell architecture — undivided versus divided (membrane-separated) configurations; parallel-plate versus interdigitated flow fields; planar versus 3D porous electrodes.
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Electrode mounting — solid plate, mesh, or carbon felt / carbon paper for porous flow-through operation; provision for reference-electrode insertion in three-electrode mode.
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Materials of construction — PTFE, PEEK, PVDF, or graphite end plates compatible with the solvent and pH window of your electrolyte; viton or chemraz gaskets for organic media.
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Flow path and sealing — channel volume, gasket compression, and port layout determine residence-time distribution and the practical upper limit on current density before bubble blockage.
For separator and membrane choices that pair with these reactors, see Membranes & Separators. For carbon-paper and GDE substrates used inside CO2-reduction and fuel-cell-style flow cells, see Gas Diffusion Electrodes. If you are characterizing electrocatalysts before stepping up to a flow cell, start with rotating-disk and bench-scale equipment in Electrochemical Workstations.
