氧化是一種重要的化工單元過程。氧化就是被氧化的物質原子丟掉電子,氧化劑獲得電子的過程,不論氧化劑是何種物質。傳統上表示物質和氧化合,形成氧化物的過程,也就是被「氧」氧化的過程;另外還包括含氫的物質,其中的氫原子和氧化合成水,也就是含氫物質被氧奪去氫原子的過程,也叫氧化過程。自從電子的活動情況被科學界發現後,氧化過程不僅指與氧的作用,能奪取電子的物質都能被用作氧化劑,如氯氣、硝酸等。
氧化過程在化學工業生產中非常重要,用於許多化合物的製備,如:
硫化鐵氧化成二氧化硫,再將二氧化硫氧化成三氧化硫,以製備硫酸;
氨氧化成一氧化氮(以鉑作為催化劑),再將一氧化氮氧化成二氧化氮以製備硝酸;
磷氧化成五氧化二磷製備磷酸;
乙烯氧化生成環氧乙烷;
甲醇氧化被奪去氫生成甲醛;
氯化氫氧化被奪去氫生成氯氣和水。
在工業生產中雖然是應用化學反應的原理,但和在實驗室中研究最重要的不同點是必須考慮經濟的觀點,工業生產必須在經濟上是可行的,原料是容易得到的,產品是有利潤的,盡量選取廉價的氧化劑,是氧化過程盡量向簡單、高效率、低運行成本方向上發展。
圖片參考:
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/36/Stacheldraht_93.jpg/800px-Stacheldraht_93.jpg
鐵和空氣中的氧、水分子反應之後,將氧化生成三氧化二鐵,又稱為生鏽。圖為生鏽的鐵絲網
Redox (shorthand for reduction/oxidation reaction) describes all chemical reactions in which atoms have their oxidation number (oxidation state) changed.
This can be either a simple redox process such as the oxidation of carbon to yield carbon dioxide, or the reduction of carbon by hydrogen to yield methane (CH4), or it can be a complex process such as the oxidation of sugar in the human body through a series of very complex electron transfer processes.
The term redox comes from the two concepts of reduction and oxidation. It can be explained in simple terms:
Oxidation describes the loss of electrons by a molecule, atom or ion
Reduction describes the gain of electrons by a molecule, atom or ion
However, these descriptions (though sufficient for many purposes) are not truly correct. Oxidation and reduction properly refer to a change in oxidation number—the actual transfer of electrons may never occur. Thus, oxidation is better defined as an increase in oxidation number, and reduction as a decrease in oxidation number. In practice, the transfer of electrons will always cause a change in oxidation number, but there are many reactions which are classed as "redox" even though no electron transfer occurs (such as those involving covalent bonds).
Non-redox reactions, which do not involve changes in formal charge, are known as metathesis reactions.