Hydrogen Peroxide by the Electrochemical Process

Hydrogen peroxide is produced on a large scale mainly by distilling pcrsul-phurio acid or persulphates with sulphuric acid. 

Theoretical principles of the preparation of persulphuric acid and persulphates  

Persulphuric acid or persulphates are produced by the oxidation of sulphuric acid or sulphates at an anO de of smooth pure platinum using a high current density. Only smooth platinum can be used for the anodes because no other material displays such a high oxygen overvoltage. 

The standard equilibrium potential of the oxygen electrode, corresponding to the reaction 

The liberation of oxygen can, however, be supressed considerably if sulphuric acid is used as the electrolyte, which is anodically oxidized into persulphuric acid. From what has been said about the formation of persulphate ions (see theoretical section) it is clear that the anodic process can be expressed by the following overall equation  

---