Halogens and their compounds

Uses

The first large-scale use of chlorine was in the manufacture of bleaching powder for use in making paper and cotton textiles. Bleaching powder was later replaced by liquid chlorine, which also came into widespread use as a germicide for public water supplies. Presently the principal use of chlorine is in making chemical compounds. Important inorganic chemicals made by direct action of chlorine on other substances include sulfur chloride, thionyl chloride, phosgene, aluminum chloride, iron(III) chloride, titanium(IV) chloride, tin(IV) chloride, and potassium chlorate.

Organic chemicals made directly from chlorine include derivatives of methane (methyl chloride, methylene chloride, chloroform, and carbon tetrachloride); chlorobenzene and ortho- and para-dichlorobenzenes; ethyl chloride; and ethylene chloride.

Commercial preparation

Of several processes that have been used for the manufacture of chlorine, the oldest employed the reaction of hydrochloric acid with manganese dioxide. The procedure was inefficient, and its commercial application was short-lived.

A process introduced about 1868 by the English chemist Henry Deacon was based on the reaction of atmospheric oxygen with hydrochloric acid, which was available as a by-product of the Leblanc process for making soda ash; when the Leblanc process became obsolete, the Deacon process fell into disuse.

The chlor-alkali industry—in which chlorine and caustic soda (sodium hydroxide) are produced simultaneously by electrolytic decomposition of salt (sodium chloride)—has become the principal source of chlorine during the 20th century. As noted earlier, in the two important versions of the electrolytic process, brine is the electrolyte (in which the passage of electric current occurs by the movement of charged particles called ions), and graphite rods are the anodes (positive terminals). The difference between the two processes derives from the distinct behaviour of iron and of mercury when those metals are used as cathodes (negative terminals).

In brine, the two substances susceptible to chemical reduction are positively charged sodium ions and neutral water molecules. At a reversible cathode, reduction of sodium ions requires a higher voltage than does the reduction of water molecules, and application of a voltage high enough to reduce sodium ions would effect reduction of a considerable amount of water but of a very small number of sodium ions. The reaction occurring at the surface of an iron cathode is represented by the following equation:

At a mercury cathode, on the other hand, appreciable reduction of water requires a much higher voltage than that needed at an iron cathode. This so-called overpotential is so great, in fact, that the electrode voltage can be raised to that needed for the reduction of sodium ions without affecting the water molecules.

Passage of a direct electric current through brine is attended by chemical changes at the surfaces where the electrodes come in contact with the electrolyte. At the graphite anode, chloride ions present in the dissolved salt are converted by oxidation to elemental chlorine, which is led away through a vent. At the iron cathode, reduction of water takes place, according to the equation shown above. The hydrogen gas is removed, while the hydroxide ions remain in the solution. The net result is that chloride ions and water are consumed and chlorine gas, hydrogen gas, and hydroxide ions are produced. Complete conversion of chloride to hydroxide is not practical, but as brine is continuously introduced at the top of the cell, a solution containing nearly equal amounts of salt and caustic soda is withdrawn at the bottom. Purification of the effluent liquor yields solid sodium hydroxide containing only a small amount of salt.

Successful production of chlorine and caustic soda in these cells requires that the two products be separated, because upon mixing they would react with one another. The chlorine is kept away from the caustic by interposing a diaphragm between the electrodes: such cells are commonly called diaphragm cells.

In the other main variant of the chlor-alkali process, the so-called mercury cell is employed. The cathode in such a cell is a shallow layer of mercury flowing across the bottom of the vessel; graphite anodes extend down into the brine electrolyte. A powerful direct current is caused to pass between the graphite rods and the mercury surface. At the anodes, chloride ions are converted to chlorine gas, as in the diaphragm cell; the reaction occurring at the mercury cathode, however, differs from that at an iron cathode. Positively charged sodium ions in the brine migrate to the mercury surface, where the voltage is high enough to reduce them to sodium metal without reducing the water because of the above-noted overpotential of mercury. The metallic sodium formed at the cathode dissolves in the mercury, and the solution (called an amalgam) flows out of the cell into another vessel, where it is brought into contact with water, which reacts with the sodium to form sodium hydroxide and hydrogen.

The overall result of operating a mercury cell is the same as that of operating a diaphragm cell: sodium chloride and water are changed into sodium hydroxide, chlorine, and hydrogen. Use of the mercury cell, however, makes it possible to generate the sodium hydroxide in the absence of salt, so that evaporation of the caustic liquor produces solid sodium hydroxide completely free of sodium chloride. The higher purity of the product makes it more desirable for certain applications, notably in the manufacture of rayon.