Electrochemically activated water (ECHAW): history of discovery, specificity of the process, current state and prospects of its application under irrigation conditions

The history of the discovery, the specificity of the process and the current state of the use of electrochemically activated water (ECHAW) in various sectors of the economy are analyzed and the possibilities of its use in irrigation are determined. It has been established that the most promising area of ​​application of ECHAW in irrigated agriculture are drip irrigation systems. The adding an anolyte to water during drip irrigation can significantly reduce (or even eliminate) the need to use plant protection products and the adding an catholyte significantly accelerates the development and increases the yield of agricultural crops against the background of improving product quality. The ecological consequences of this are the reduction of anthropogenic load on irrigated lands through the complete or partial replacement of chemical plant protection products with anolyte, which is an environmentally safe liquid; economic - increasing profitability and reducing the payback period of land irrigation projects. It has been determined that the prospect of using ECHAW in drip irrigation systems is due to the fact that the water supply technology allows supplying catholyte and anolyte to the field with minimal losses of activation potential. A predisposing factor for the use of ECHAW in drip irrigation systems is also their design according to a modular principle, which contributes to the possibility of equipping water treatment units of systems with ECHAW modules. At the same time, the design of systems should be carried out taking into account not only the need to ensure uniform distribution of water by droppers over the field, but also with the preservation of the activation potential of electrochemically activated components of irrigation water. Based on the foregoing, it can be considered that the development of means of electrochemical activation of water for irrigation needs, as well as technologies for the use of such water in growing crops is relevant and timely. The deployment of fundamental and applied research will contribute to the development of domestic equipment for the industrial production of ECHAW and will allow adapting the world technologies of their use to the conditions and needs of the Ukrainian manufacturer and consumer. The use of electrochemically activated water in drip irrigation systems can be especially effective.

Facile Synthesis of the Dicyanophosphide Anion via Electrochemical Activation of White Phosphorus: An Avenue to Organophosphorus Compounds

Organophosphorus compounds (OPCs) have gained tremendous interest in the past decades due to their wide applications ranging from synthetic chemistry to materials and biological sciences. We describe herein a practical and versatile approach for the transformation of white phosphorus (P4) into useful OPCs with high P atom economy via a key bridging anion [P(CN)2]–. This anion can be prepared on a gram scale directly from P4 through an unprecedented electrochemical process. A variety of OPCs involving phosphinidenes, cyclophosphanes and phospholides have been made readily accessible from P4 in a two-step manner. Our approach has a significant impact on the future preparation of OPCs in laboratory and industrial settings.

Electrochemical Study of Butyl-Pyrene Nitrobenzoate Derivatives Trapped on MWCNT Nanostructured Electrodes

In the scope of our studies tending to find new nanostructured electrodic platforms containing nitroaromatic compounds (NACs) capable of generating in situ electrocatalytic redox couples, we synthesized and electrochemically studied three related 4-(pyren-1-yl)-butyl-substituted nitrobenzoates (2-NBPy, 3-NBPy and 4-NBPy). The design of the compounds is based on a combination of a) an adsorptive tail (-butyl-pyrene) capable of interacting via π-π stacking with the MWCNT nanostructured electrodes and b) nitroaromatic compounds (NACs) capable of electrochemically activating to form a RNHOH/NO redox couple trapped on the nanostructured electrodic platform. Morphological and structural analyses of the nanostructured interfaces were performed by SEM and WAXS/SAXS analysis. All of the NBPy compounds trapped on the nanostructured electrodic platform were susceptible to reduction, generating the corresponding hydroxylamine derivative. The order of ease of reduction for the nitrocompounds is 4-NBPy > 2-NBPy > 3-NBPy. After electrochemical activation, all compounds generated an RNHOH/NO redox mediator couple with the following order of stability of the mediator couple: 2-NBPy > 3-NBPy > 4-NBPy. For the 2-NBPy and 3-NBPy derivatives, excellent stability of the couple was observed, and a decrease in the peak current of 6% was observed after 60 minutes.