Green electrochemical synthesis of silver sulfadiazine microcrystals

Electrochemical synthesis of silver sulfadiazine (AgSD) microcrystals was carried out galvanostatically in a special two-electrode cell equipped with a sacrificial silver rod anode and a stainless steel plate cathode. The cell used in this work consists of a small cylindrical chamber containing aqueous sulfadiazine/sodium nitrate as the anode compartment inside a larger cylindrical chamber containing nitric acid solution as the cathode compartment. The ionic connection of two chambers is carried out through a solvent surface layer. In this study, the effect of the experimental parameters such as applied current density and sodium nitrate concentration as well as nitric acid concentration on the yield and energy consumption of AgSD is discussed. The proposed method is fast and green and has unique features including synthesis in a single step, and no need for a metal salt.