Indirect Electrochemical Reduction of Indanthrene Brilliant Green FFB

The indirect electrochemical reduction of Indanthrene Brilliant Green FFB (IBG) was investigated in detail by cyclic voltammetry and electrolytic experiments. Triethanolamine (TEA) was used as ligand to form electrochemically active Fe(III)-complexes in alkaline solution. The effects of operating parameters including reaction temperature, current density, concentration of NaOH and Fe(III)-TEA mediator had been studied by orthogonal experiments and the mechanism of radicals on electrochemical reduction was discussed. The cyclic voltammetry experimental results show that Fe(III)-TEA complexes are well suited for the indirect electrochemical reduction of IBG. The electrolytic experiments show that high current efficiency (49.9%) can be successfully achieved under optimized conditions and the current density is found to be the main influence factor.