Activation, residual water

On the other hand, potential measurements at the free surface of purified water have shown50 that the value for a flowing surface differs by about 0.3 V from that for a quiescent surface, as a result of adsorption of surface-active residual impurities in the solution (probably also coming from the gas phase). Since emersed electrodes drag off the surface layer of the solution as they come out of the liquid phase, the liquid layer attached to emersed solid surfaces might also be contaminated. 

All copolymers were prepared by solution polymerization, under adiabatic conditions, giving at least 99.9% conversions. The polymer gels were granulated and then dried at 90 °C to a residual water content of 10 to 12%. The active polymer content of each sample was calculated from the initial weight of the comonomers and the weight of the dried gel. Hydrolysis of the polymers was determined by conductometric titration to be less than 0.2% of the acrylamide charge. The molecular weight of the polymers was 8-10 million as determined by intrinsic viscosity measurements. 

It is difficult to keep an electrolyte solution completely free from water, even when the experiment is carried out in a glove box or with a vacuum line. In such cases, procedures such as adding powdered active alumina directly into the electrolyte solution or passing the electrolyte solution through a column packed with active alumina can be used to remove residual water [16]. These procedures are also effective in removing various impurities, which are either acidic, basic, nucleophilic or electrophilic. However, it should be noted that some of the electroactive species may also be adsorbed onto the powder. 

---