Acid-base titration characterization applications

Suitable characterization techniques for surface functional groups are temperature-programmed desorption (TPD), acid/base titration [29], infrared spectroscopy, or X-ray photoemission spectroscopy, whereas structural properties are typically monitored by nitrogen physisorption, electron microscopy, or Raman spectroscopy. The application of these methods in the field of nanocarbon research is reviewed elsewhere [5,32]. 

T raditionally, titration curve calculations are described in terms of equations that are valid only for parts of the titration. Equations will be developed here that reliably describe the entire curve. This will be done first for acid-base titration curves. In following chapters, titration curves for other reaction systems (metal complexation, redox, precipitation) will be developed and characterized in a similar fashion. For all, graphical and algebraic means of locating the endpoints will be described, colorimetric indicators and how they function will be explained, and the application of these considerations to (1) calculation of titration errors, (2) buffo design and evaluation, (3) sharpness of titrations, and finally, (4) in Chapter 18, the use of titration curve data to the determination of equilibrium constants will be presented. 

As with acid-base and complexation titrations, redox titrations are not frequently used in modern analytical laboratories. Nevertheless, several important applications continue to find favor in environmental, pharmaceutical, and industrial laboratories. In this section we review the general application of redox titrimetry. We begin, however, with a brief discussion of selecting and characterizing redox titrants, and methods for controlling the analyte s oxidation state. 

One typical TPD experiment is designed in a way to enable the pre-treatment of the sample, in situ the admission of specific adsorbate (probe) up to some specific surface coverage or up to the saturation and subsequently, desorption which is performed in a temperature-controlled regime. Many different chemical species can be used as probes if a chosen probe can titrate acid or basic sites at the surface, TPD can be used for the characterization of acidity/basicity of some adsorbent. In fact, temperature-programmed desorption and adsorption calorimetry are most commonly used for the study of acid/base properties of solid materials [20, 35, 36]. The same probe molecules that are used for adsorption calorimetry experiments are applicable in the case of TPD while the investigation of acidic/basic character of solids is perhaps... 

Table 11.1 lists the names and formulas of a number of important acids. Acids and bases have been known and characterized since ancient times. Chemical description and explanation of their properties and behavior has progressed through several stages of sophistication and generality. A broadly applicable modern treatment is presented in Chapter 15. Here, we introduce titrations using the treatment of the Swedish chemist Svante Arrhenius, who defined acids and bases by their behavior when dissolved in water. 

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