Electrochemical process and cell for the preparation of germane

摘要

The invention relates to the electrolysis of aqueous electrolyte solutions containing GeO 2 ; hydroxide and water with metal alloy electrodes, such as copper or tin rich alloy electrodes with alloying elements such as Sn, Pb, Zn, Cu etc, to generate Germane (GeH 4 ). Cu-rich alloy electrodes have been demonstrated to increase the GeH 4 current efficiency by almost 20 % compared to Cu metal electrodes. Germanium deposition has been found to be either absent or minimal by using Cu-rich alloy electrodes. Several different methods for maintaining the cell performance or restoring the cell performance after a reduction in current efficiency over time have been identified. A titration-based method for the analysis of the electrolyte to obtain the concentration of GeO 2 and the concentration of hydroxide is also disclosed.