Diffusion current, in polarography

Mean Diffusion Current In polarography, the periodic detachment of mercury drops from the dropping mercury electrode impart an oscillation to the measured current. The average value of this current is termed the mean diffusion current. 

Residual current in polarography. In the pragmatic treatment of the theory of electrolysis (Section 3.1) we have explained the occurrence of a residual current on the basis of back-diffusion of the electrolysis product obtained. In conventional polarography the wave shows clearly the phenomenon of a residual current by a slow rise of the curve before the decomposition potential as well as beyond the potential where the limiting current has been reached. In order to establish the value one generally corrects the total current measured for the current of the blank solution in the manner illustrated in Fig. 3.16 (vertical distance between the two parallel lines CD and AB). However, this is an unreliable procedure especially in polarography because, apart from the troublesome saw-tooth character of the i versus E curve, the residual current exists not only with a faradaic part, which is caused by reduction (or oxidation)... 

Diffusion current, /d The maximum current in polarography (see Section 6.3.2). 

In differential pulse polarography, the situation is somewhat similar. In this case, the pulse amphtudes are constant for each drop. For a very brief period just before the application of the pulse, the current is measured. The pulse is then apphed for a brief period. Near the end of this period, and just before the drop is knocked-off, the cmrent is again measured. The same situation apphes as was outhned before, the final measiu-ement being made when there is relatively minimal interference by the condenser current with the diffusion current. In differential pulse polarography the difference between the current... 

Ilkovic equation The relation between diffusion current, ij, and the concentration c in polarography which in its simplest form is... 

The facilitated transfers of Na+ and K+ into the NB phase were observed by the current-scan polarography at an electrolyte-dropping electrode [12]. In the case of ion transfers into the DCE phase, cyclic voltammetry was measured at an aqueous gel electrode [9]. Both measurements were carried out under two distinctive experimental conditions. One is a N15C5 diffusion-control system where the concentration of N15C5 in the organic phase is much smaller than that of a metal ion in the aqueous phase. The other is a metal ion diffusion-control system where, conversely, the concentration of metal ion is much smaller than that of N15C5. Typical polarograms measured in the both experimental systems are shown in Fig. 2. 

Diffusion Currents. Half-wave Potentials. Characteristics of the DME. Quantitative Analysis. Modes of Operation Used in Polarography. The Dissolved Oxygen Electrode and Biochemical Enzyme Sensors. Amperometric Titrations. Applications of Polarography and Amperometric Titrations. 

Polarography is the classical name for LSV with a DME. With DME as the working electrode, the surface area increases until the drop falls off. This process produces an oscillating current synchronized with the growth of the Hg-drop. A typical polarogram is shown in Fig. 18b. 10a. The plateau current (limiting diffusion current as discussed earlier) is given by the Ilkovic equation... 

To learn that in polarography, the magnitude of the diffusion current /j is proportional to analyte concentration according to the llkovic equation. 

Figure 19.3—Polarographic cell and diffusion current. Dissolved oxygen, which leads to an interfering double wave, has to be removed from the sample solution by degassing. On the right features of the diffusion current are shown. These increase with time for every drop of mercury in a static (unstirred) solution. Direct polarography is a slow method of analysis. More than 100 droplets are needed to record the voltammogram.

Voltammetry is a collection of methods in which the dependence of current on the applied potential of the working electrode is observed. Polarography is voltammetry with a dropping-mercury working electrode. This electrode gives reproducible results because fresh surface is always exposed. Hg is useful for reductions because the high overpotential for H+ reduction on Hg prevents interference by H+ reduction. Oxidations are usually studied with other electrodes because Hg is readily oxidized. For quantitative analysis, the diffusion current is proportional to analyte concentration if there is a sufficient concentration of supporting electrolyte. The half-wave potential is characteristic of a particular analyte in a particular medium. 

Equation (11) is also applicable as a good, or reasonably good, approximation to a number of techniques classified as d.c. voltammetry , in which the response to a perturbation is measured after a fixed time interval, tm. The diffusion layer thickness, 5/, will be a function of D, and tm and the nature of this function has to be deduced from the rigorous solution of the diffusion problem in combination with the appropriate initial and boundary conditions [21—23]. The best known example is d.c. polarography [11], where the d.c. current is measured at the dropping mercury electrode at a fixed time, tm, after the birth of a new drop as a function of the applied d.c. potential. The expressions for 5 pertaining to this and some other techniques are given in Table 1. 

Polarography is valuable not only for studies of reactions which take place in the bulk of the solution, but also for the determination of both equilibrium and rate constants of fast reactions that occur in the vicinity of the electrode. Nevertheless, the study of kinetics is practically restricted to the study of reversible reactions, whereas in bulk reactions irreversible processes can also be followed. The study of fast reactions is in principle a perturbation method the system is displaced from equilibrium by electrolysis and the re-establishment of equilibrium is followed. Methodologically, the approach is also different for rapidly established equilibria the shift of the half-wave potential is followed to obtain approximate information on the value of the equilibrium constant. The rate constants of reactions in the vicinity of the electrode surface can be determined for such reactions in which the re-establishment of the equilibria is fast and comparable with the drop-time (3 s) but not for extremely fast reactions. For the calculation, it is important to measure the value of the limiting current ( ) under conditions when the reestablishment of the equilibrium is not extremely fast, and to measure the diffusion current (id) under conditions when the chemical reaction is extremely fast finally, it is important to have access to a value of the equilibrium constant measured by an independent method. 

In -> polarography sometimes faradaic currents are observed which cannot be attributed to diffusion-limited reduction of electroactive species under investigation. Sometimes substances (which are not necessarily electroactive themselves) lower the hydrogen overpotential of the mercury electrode in various ways (by adsorption, by acting as a redox mediator), thus a hydrogen evolution current (a catalytic hydrogen wave) is observed [ii—iv]. See also - Mairanovskii. 

The current-potential relationship of the totally - irreversible electrode reaction Ox + ne - Red in the techniques mentioned above is I = IiKexp(-af)/ (1+ Kexp(-asteady-state voltammetry, a. is a - transfer coefficient, ks is -> standard rate constant, t is a drop life-time, S is a -> diffusion layer thickness, and

logarithmic analysis of this wave is also a straight line E = Eff + 2.303 x (RT/anF) logzc + 2.303 x (RT/anF) log [(fi, - I) /I -The slope of this line is 0.059/a V. It can be used for the determination of transfer coefficients, if the number of electrons is known. The half-wave potential depends on the drop life-time, or the rotation rate, or the microelectrode radius, and this relationship can be used for the determination of the standard rate constant, if the formal potential is known. 

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