Study On The Electrosynthesis Of Tetrabutyl Ammonium Hydroxide

As a kind of quaternary ammonium hydroxide, tetrabutyl ammonium hydroxide is mainly used as electronic chemicals, phase transfer catalysts, molecular sieve template agent, etc. With the development of its application, the demand for tetrabutyl ammonium hydroxide increases rapidly. Howerer, at present, the synthetic methods of tetrabutyl ammonium hydroxide have some disadvantages, for example the impurity content is high, therefore, the study of synthesis process of tetrabutyl ammonium hydroxide by electrodialysis has a good application prospect.Firstly, a study on the preparation of tetrabutyl ammonium bromide from tributylamine was performed. The operation parameters such as the type of solvent, the dosage of solvent, the mixture ratio and the reaction time, were investigated in the process. The result showed that the optimum reactions are as follows:acetonitrile as the solvent, the mixture ratio of n(tributylamine):n(n-butylbromide):n(acetonitrile)=1:1.2:4, the reaction time of 24h, the reaction conversion rate reached 93%, recrystallization solvent of ethyl acetate used for four times, the average yield of tetrabutyl ammonium bromide achieves 86.6%.From the synthesis experiment of tetrabutyl ammonium hydroxide by a single membrane electrolysis, TC-1 ion exchange membrane was the most appropriate one allowed tetrabutyl ammonium ions to pass through. In order to solve the problems of single membrane electrolytic cell, the experiment scheme of three-embrane and four-chamber electrodialysis was presented. Application of continuous feed and continuous discharging way can solve the problem of low current efficiency. The electrolytic factors was optimized, the best electrolytic solution:current 200 A/m2, flow 150 L/h, raw material concentration 50 wt%, alkali concentration 6 wt%, providing a high current efficiency.