Cells calomel

For many purposes the hydrogen electrode is not convenient and it can be replaced by another cell of known standard electrode potential. A well-known example is the calomel cell shown in Figure 4.5. 

Experimentally, the aqueous iron(II) is titrated with cerium(IV) in aqueous solution in a burette. The arrangement is shown in Figure 4.6, the platinum indicator electrode changes its potential (with reference to a calomel half-cell as standard) as the solution is titrated. Figure 4.7 shows the graph of the cell e.m.f. against added cerium(IV). At the equivalence point the amount of the added Ce (aq) is equal to the original amount of Fe (aq) hence the amounts of Ce (aq) and Fe (aq) are also equal. Under these conditions the potential of the electrode in the mixture is ( - - f)/2 this, the equivalence point, occurs at the point indicated. 

The saturated calomel electrode (SCE), which is constructed using an aqueous solution saturated with KCl, has a potential at 25 °C of -hO.2444 V. A typical SCE is shown in Eigure 11.8 and consists of an inner tube, packed with a paste of Hg, HgiCli, and saturated KCl, situated within a second tube filled with a saturated solution of KCl. A small hole connects the two tubes, and an asbestos fiber serves as a salt bridge to the solution in which the SCE is immersed. The stopper in the outer tube may be removed when additional saturated KCl is needed. The shorthand notation for this cell is... 

If the copper electrode is the indicator electrode in a potentiometric electrochemical cell that also includes a saturated calomel reference electrode... 

However, in the case of stress-corrosion cracking of mild steel in some solutions, the potential band within which cracking occurs can be very narrow and an accurately known reference potential is required. A reference half cell of the calomel or mercury/mercurous sulphate type is therefore used with a liquid/liquid junction to separate the half-cell support electrolyte from the process fluid. The connections from the plant equipment and reference electrode are made to an impedance converter which ensures that only tiny currents flow in the circuit, thus causing the minimum polarisation of the reference electrode. The signal is then amplifled and displayed on a digital voltmeter or recorder. 

Reference Electrode an equilibrium (reversible) electrochemical half-cell of reproducible potential against which an unknown electrode potential can be measured. Examples of those commonly used in corrosion are the Pt, H /H (the hydrogen electrode), Hg/Hg Clj/Cl" (the calomel electrode), Cu/CuS04/Cu, Ag/AgCl/Cl", all with fixed activities of the dissolved ions. 

The most widely used reference electrode, due to its ease of preparation and constancy of potential, is the calomel electrode. A calomel half-cell is one in which mercury and calomel [mercury(I) chloride] are covered with potassium chloride solution of definite concentration this may be 0.1 M, 1M, or saturated. These electrodes are referred to as the decimolar, the molar and the saturated calomel electrode (S.C.E.) and have the potentials, relative to the standard hydrogen electrode at 25 °C, of 0.3358,0.2824 and 0.2444 volt. Of these electrodes the S.C.E. is most commonly used, largely because of the suppressive effect of saturated potassium chloride solution on liquid junction potentials. However, this electrode suffers from the drawback that its potential varies rapidly with alteration in temperature owing to changes in the solubility of potassium chloride, and restoration of a stable potential may be slow owing to the disturbance of the calomel-potassium chloride equilibrium. The potentials of the decimolar and molar electrodes are less affected by change in temperature and are to be preferred in cases where accurate values of electrode potentials are required. The electrode reaction is... 

To measure the hydrogen ion concentration of a solution the glass electrode must be combined with a reference electrode, for which purpose the saturated calomel electrode is most commonly used, thus giving the cell ... 

The H-type cell devised by Lingane and Laitinen and shown in Fig. 16.9 will be found satisfactory for many purposes a particular feature is the built-in reference electrode. Usually a saturated calomel electrode is employed, but if the presence of chloride ion is harmful a mercury(I) sulphate electrode (Hg/Hg2 S04 in potassium sulphate solution potential ca + 0.40 volts vs S.C.E.) may be used. It is usually designed to contain 10-50 mL of the sample solution in the left-hand compartment, but it can be constructed to accommodate a smaller volume down to 1 -2 mL. To avoid polarisation of the reference electrode the latter should be made of tubing at least 20 mm in diameter, but the dimensions of the solution compartment can be varied over wide limits. The compartments are separated by a cross-member filled with a 4 per cent agar-saturated potassium chloride gel, which is held in position by a medium-porosity sintered Pyrex glass disc (diameter at least 10 mm) placed as near the solution compartment as possible in order to facilitate de-aeration of the test solution. By clamping the cell so that the cross-member is vertical, the molten... 

Calibration curve in spectrophotometry, 674, 753, 755, 800 statistical tests for, 144 Calmagite 318 Calomel electrode 63 forms of, 551 potential of, 554 preparation of, 551 Capacitative cell 527 Capacitance as an analytical tool, 528 Carbohydrates D. of hydroxyl groups in, (ti)) 306... 

This effect appears to be of importance in the case of normal galvanic cells, the electromotive forces of which depend on the concentration of solutions in equilibrium with depolarising solids such as calomel or mercurous sulphate. The exact relationships are, unfortunately, not yet wholly elucidated. 

The Hg/dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) interface has been studied by electrocapillary and capacitance measurements in a range of temperatures.291,304 Eamo was measured using the streaming electrode method. All potentials were recorded in a nonisothermal cell against a 0.1 M NaCl calomel electrode (CE) in water at 25°C. The potential difference of the cell CE/0.1 M NaC104 (aq.)/0.1 M NaC104 (DMSO)/CE was -0.096 V. This value was used to recalculate the data.312... 

A glass electrode, a thin-walled glass bulb containing an electrolyte, is much easier to use than a hydrogen electrode and has a potential that varies linearly with the pH of the solution outside the glass bulb (Fig. 12.11). Often there is a calomel electrode built into the probe that makes contact with the test solution through a miniature salt bridge. A pH meter therefore usually has only one probe, which forms a complete electrochemical cell once it is dipped into a solution. The meter is calibrated with a buffer of known pH, and the measured cell emf is then automatically converted into the pH of the solution, which is displayed. 

Electrochemical Cell Without Transference Assume that we want to determine the activities of HCl solutions of various concentrations. We assemble a galvanic cell with hydrogen and calomel electrode ... 

In a half-cell with a calomel RE, mercury purified by distillation and mixed with solid calomel is placed on the bottom of the cell. A length of platinum wire fused into glass tubing is fuUy immersed into the mercury in order to make electrical contact. 

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