Double electrodes, homogeneous chemical reactions

The popularity of the cychc voltammetry (CV) technique has led to its extensive study and numerous simple criteria are available for immediate anal-j sis of electrochemical systems from the shape, position and time-behaviour of the experimental voltammograms [1, 2], For example, a quick inspection of the cyclic voltammograms offers information about the diffusive or adsorptive nature of the electrode process, its kinetic and thermodynamic parameters, as well as the existence and characteristics of coupled homogeneous chemical reactions [2]. This electrochemical method is also very useful for the evaluation of the magnitude of imdesirable effects such as those derived from ohmic drop or double-layer capacitance. Accordingly, cyclic voltammetry is frequently used for the analysis of electroactive species and surfaces, and for the determination of reaction mechanisms and rate constants. 

Chronoamperometry Chronoamperometry involves the study of the variation of the current response with time under potentiostatic control. Generally the working electrode is stepped from a potential at which there is no electrode reaction to one corresponding to the mass-transport-limited current, and the resulting current-time transient is recorded. In double-step chronoamperometry, a second step inverts the electrode reaction and this method is useful in analysing cases where the product of the initial electrode reaction is consumed in solution by a coupled homogeneous chemical reaction. 

For complex mechanisms such as ECE or other schemes involving at least two electron transfer steps with interposed chemical reactions, double electrodes offer a unique probe for the determination of kinetic parameters. Convection from upstream to downstream electrodes allows the study of fast homogeneous processes. The general reaction scheme for an ECE mechanism can be written... 

The overall reaction, Eq. (1), may take place in a number of steps or partial reactions. There are four possible partial reactions charge transfer, mass transport, chemical reaction, and crystallization. Charge-transfer reactions involve the transfer of charge carriers (ions or electrons) across the double layer. This is the basic deposition reaction. The charge-transfer reaction is the only partial reaction directly affected by the electrode potential. In mass transport processes, the substances consumed or formed during the electrode reaction are transported from the bulk solution to the interphase (double layer) and from the interphase to the bulk solution. This mass transport takes place by diffusion. Chemical reactions involved in the overall deposition process can be homogeneous reactions in the solution and heterogeneous reactions at the surface. The rate constants of chemical reactions are independent of the potential. In crystallization partial reactions, atoms are either incorporated into or removed from the crystal lattice. 

In principle, like all electrochemical reactions initiated by the transfer of an electron across an electrode-electrolyte interface, photoelectrochemical transformations offer the possibility of more precise control than can be attained with reactions that take place in homogeneous solution [62, 63]. This better selectivity derives from three features associated with reactions that take place on surfaces, and hence with the photoelectrochemical event the applied potential (allowing for specific activation of a functional group whose oxidation potential is higher, even in a multifunctional molecule) the chemical nature of the electrode surface (and hence of the adsorption equilibrium constant of a specific molecule present in the double layer) and, finally, control of current flow (and hence a constraint on the number of electrons passed to an adsorbed reactant). 

For the LSV and CV techniques, the concept of reversibility/irreversibility is therefore very important. Electrochemists are responsible for some confusion about the term irreversible, since a reaction may be electrochemically irreversible, yet chemically reversible. In electrochemistry, the term irreversible is used in a double sense, to describe effects from both homogeneous and heterogeneous reactions. In both cases, the irreversible situation arises when deviations from the Nernst equation can be seen as fast changes in the electrode potential, E, are attempted and the apparent heterogeneous rate constants, /capp, for the O/R redox couple is relatively small. The heterogeneous rate constant can be split into two parts a constant factor in terms of the standard rate constant, k°, and an exponential function of the overpotential E - Eq), as expressed in Eq. 59, where only the reductive process is considered (see also Eq. 5). 

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