Cathodic process hydrogen evolution

The Tafel tines in Fig. 10.8 may be quantitatively described as follows. For the cathodic process (hydrogen evolution) ... 

The difference between -Si and p-Si at the cathodic potentials indicates the effect of carriers on the etching process. At cathodic potentials, hydrogen evolution may obtain the electron either directly from the dissolving surface silicon atom or from the semiconductor. For -Si, cathodic bias provides a high concentration of surface electrons for hydrogen reaction resulting in a decrease of the dissolution rate. However, for p-Si, electrons are the minority carriers and thus the etch rate remains more or less constant at cathodic potentials. 

Grgur BN, Krstajic NV, Elezovic N, Jovic VD (2005) Electrodeposition and characterization of Fe-Mo alloys as cathodes for hydrogen evolution in the process of chlorate production. J Serb Chrem Soc 70 879-889... 

Iron or stainless steel is used as cathode material for reaction 4 at low caustic soda concentrations (diaphragm process), pure nickel is necessary at high concentrations (membrane process). Hydrogen evolution needs at these materials a relative high overpotential of up to 300 mV. It can be significantly decreased if coatings of, e.g., ruthenium oxides, are applied on the cathode surface (see also essay - Hydrogen Evolution Reaction ). 

The low current efficiency of this process results from the evolution of hydrogen at the cathode. This occurs because the hydrogen deposition overvoltage on chromium is significantly more positive than that at which chromous ion deposition would be expected to commence. Hydrogen evolution at the cathode surface also increases the pH of the catholyte beyond 4, which may result in the precipitation of Cr(OH)2 and Cr(OH)2, causing a partial passivation of the cathode and a reduction in current efficiency. The latter is also inherently low, as six electrons are required to reduce hexavalent ions to chromium metal. 

Figure 4-419 illustrates the concept of corrosion process under concentration polarization control. Considering hydrogen evolution at the cathode, reduction rate of hydrogen ions is dependent on the rate of diffusion of hydrogen ions to the metal surface. Concentration polarization therefore is a controlling factor when reducible species are in low concentrations (e.g., dilute acids). 

It follows from equation 1.45 that the corrosion rate of a metal can be evaluated from the rate of the cathodic process, since the two are faradai-cally equivalent thus either the rate of hydrogen evolution or of oxygen reduction may be used to determine the corrosion rate, providing no other cathodic process occurs. If the anodic and cathodic sites are physically separable the rate of transfer of charge (the current) from one to the other can also be used, as, for example, in evaluating the effects produced by coupling two dissimilar metals. There are a number of examples quoted in the literature where this has been achieved, and reference should be made to the early work of Evans who determined the current and the rate of anodic dissolution in a number of systems in which the anodes and cathodes were physically separable. 

The hydrogen evolution reaction (h.e.r.) and the oxygen reduction reaction (equations 1.11 and 1.12) are the two most important cathodic processes in the corrosion of metals, and this is due to the fact that hydrogen ions and water molecules are invariably present in aqueous solution, and since most aqueous solutions are in contact with the atmosphere, dissolved oxygen molecules will normally be present. 

An attempt to measure the pzc of Pb + Na alloys has been reported by Kiseleva etal.m The system was studied in the context of the cathodic processes during hydrogen evolution that are believed to result in the incorporation of alkali metal atoms. 

The relation between E and t is S-shaped (curve 2 in Fig. 12.10). In the initial part we see the nonfaradaic charging current. The faradaic process starts when certain values of potential are attained, and a typical potential arrest arises in the curve. When zero reactant concentration is approached, the potential again moves strongly in the negative direction (toward potentials where a new electrode reaction will start, e.g., cathodic hydrogen evolution). It thus becomes possible to determine the transition time fiinj precisely. Knowing this time, we can use Eq. (11.9) to find the reactant s bulk concentration or, when the concentration is known, its diffusion coefficient. 

Cathodic hydrogen evolution is one of the most common electrochemical reactions. It is the principal reaction in electrolytic hydrogen production, the auxiliary reaction in the production of many substances forming at the anode, such as chlorine, and a side reaction in many cathodic processes, particularly in electrohydrometallurgy. It is of considerable importance in the corrosion of metals. Its special characteristic is the fact that it can proceed in any aqueous solution particular reactants need not be added. The reverse reaction, which is the anodic ionization of molecular hydrogen, is utilized in batteries and fuel cells. 

The dissolution of zinc in a mineral acid is much faster when the zinc contains an admixture of copper. This is because the surface of the metal contains copper crystallites at which hydrogen evolution occurs with a much lower overpotential than at zinc (see Fig. 5.54C). The mixed potential is shifted to a more positive value, E mix, and the corrosion current increases. In this case the cathodic and anodic processes occur on separate surfaces. This phenomenon is termed corrosion of a chemically heterogeneous surface. In the solution an electric current flows between the cathodic and anodic domains which represent short-circuited electrodes of a galvanic cell. A. de la Rive assumed this to be the only kind of corrosion, calling these systems local cells. 

Our investigations showed that in mixed melts of eutectic composition carbamide-NH4(K)Cl, the oxidation and reduction of melt constituents take place mainly independently of each other. The anodic process at platinum electrodes in the range of potentials below 0.9V is associated with the direct oxidation of carbamide to secondary and tertiary amide compounds, accumulation of ammonium ions in the melt, and evolution of the same gaseous products as in carbamide electrolysis [8], The cathodic process is accompanied by the formation of ammonia, CO, and C02, i.e. of the same products as in pure- carbamide electrolysis. In contrast to carbamide melt, a large amount of hydrogen appears in the cathode gases of the mixed melt, and in the anode gases of the carbamide-KCl melt, the presence of chlorine has been established at potentials above 0.9V. In the... 

Provided the reaction is, in some sense, reversible, so that equilibrium can be attained, and provided the reactants and products arc all gas-phase, solution or solid-state species with well-defined free energies, it is possible to define the free energies for all such reactions under any defined reaction conditions with respect to a standard process this is conventionally chosen to be the hydrogen evolution/oxidation process shown in (1.11). The relationship between the relative free energy of a process and the emf of a hypothetical cell with the reaction (1.11) as the cathode process is given by the expression AC = — nFE, or, for the free energy and potential under standard conditions, AG° = — nFEl where n is the number of electrons involved in the process, F is Faraday s constant and E is the emf. 

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