Electrochemical solid–solid conversion of bismuth oxide to bismuth metal

Abstract

It is shown that binary and ternary bismuth oxides can be reduced quantitatively in aqueous electrolytes at ambient temperaturevia a two-phase solid–solid transition by electron/proton transfer to metastable porous metal and alloy systems. Single-crystal studies demonstrate the pseudomorphous character of the transition; topochemical correlations between educt and product phase could not be established, however. The solid-state reaction may proceed even at rather low temperatures of -40 °C.