Abstract
Bio-pitch is considered as a promising candidate to replace fossil coal-tar-pitch used in carbon anodes. The electrochemical performance of the carbon anode is affected by the properties of its constituents and replacement of coal-tar-pitch with bio-pitch requires that the electrochemical performance is not significantly reduced. In this work the impact of the bio-pitch on the electrochemical behavior of carbon anodes was investigated using different electrochemical methods including, electrolysis under constant current, cyclic voltammetry and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy in a laboratory scale electrolysis cell. The electrochemical behavior of the bio-pitch anodes was compared to that of the reference anodes made of coal-tar-pitch. The bio-pitch anodes demonstrated slightly improved electrochemical performance, compared to the reference anodes. The reaction overpotential decreased while an increase in the double layer capacitance, which referrers to the interfacial contact between the anode and the molten electrolyte, was noticed upon using the bio-pitch as a binder. The finding of this work proved the potential of using the bio-pitch, as a binder, which can even be beneficial for the electrochemical performance of carbon anodes.