Patent ID: 7452450

Claim:
An anode for the electrolysis of aluminum having an outer layer of a ceramic material and a core of a composite material, where said composite material comprises an electronic conducting material and a ceramic material arranged in a continuous network, wherein the ceramic material in the composite is of the same type as that of the outer layer, wherein the ceramic material has the composition A 1+X (B 1+δ C d )O 4 , where A is a divalent cation or mixture of cations, B is a trivalent cation or a mixture of cations, and C is a trivalent cation or mixture of cations or tetravalent cation, O is the element oxygen, for C trivalent; x=0, 0<d<1, δ<0.2 and x+d+δ is essentially equal to 1, for C tetravalent; 0.4<x<0.6, 0.4<d<0.6, δ<0.2 and x+d+δ is essentially equal to 1, and that the electronic conducting material comprises Ag optionally alloyed or mixed with other conducting materials.