Electrochemistry in continuous systems

The use of continuous flow conditions for synthetic electrochemical reactions exhibits many benefits over more traditional batch conditions. This has resulted in many research groups developing continuous electrochemical reactors and their application. The benefits of continuous flow include increased faradaic efficiencies, resulting in reduced energy consumption, higher selectivities and lower electrolyte loadings, which decreases waste streams and simplifies purification. These improvements are largely derived from the smaller interelectrode gaps used in continuous systems compared with batch protocols. Although this may be perceived as a small change in terms of a practical reaction setup, it presents many challenges associated with reactor design and development. This perspective will highlight reactor layouts designed to address some of these challenges.