Inert Anode Development for High-Temperature Molten Salts

The development of inert anodes in molten salts remains the central focus for enhancing environmental viability and energy profitability of both the traditional Hall–Héroult process in the electrolytic aluminium industry and recently emerged novel molten-salt electrolysis technologies, including the FFC-Cambridge process and molten oxide electrolysis (MOE). Employing criteria and know how derived from the long-developed Hall–Héroult process, this chapter focuses on offering general guidance on the development of inert anodes, especially metallic-based materials in molten chlorides, by providing systematically thermodynamic considerations and experimental evaluations, aiming to accelerate the technological maturation of such novel molten-salt electrolysis processes. Attention is also paid to the development of inert anodes for other novel molten-salt electrolysis systems, namely, MOE and molten carbonate electrolysis.