Electrode potentials reaction

Once free energies of solvation are available, other solution properties can be determined, such as solute conformations, pKa values, electrode potentials, reaction energetics, etc.9 10 82 For example, Reynolds applied ab initio (HF and MP2) QM/MM approaches to computing the electrode potentials in water of a group of quinines 83 the average absolute deviations for the most stable conformations were 0.024 (HF) and 0.033 (MP2) volts, for a range of 0.322 volts. 

Basically, a fuel cell electrode can, thus, be seen as a highly dispersed interface between Pt and electrolyte (ionoiner or water). Due to the random composition, complex spatial distributions of electrode potential, reaction rates, and concentrations of reactants and water evolve under PEMFC operation. A subtle electrode theory has to establish the links between these distributions. 

At low currents, the rate of change of die electrode potential with current is associated with the limiting rate of electron transfer across the phase boundary between the electronically conducting electrode and the ionically conducting solution, and is temied the electron transfer overpotential. The electron transfer rate at a given overpotential has been found to depend on the nature of the species participating in the reaction, and the properties of the electrolyte and the electrode itself (such as, for example, the chemical nature of the metal). 

Cyclic voltammetry provides a simple method for investigating the reversibility of an electrode reaction (table Bl.28.1). The reversibility of a reaction closely depends upon the rate of electron transfer being sufficiently high to maintain the surface concentrations close to those demanded by the electrode potential through the Nemst equation. Therefore, when the scan rate is increased, a reversible reaction may be transfomied to an irreversible one if the rate of electron transfer is slow. For a reversible reaction at a planar electrode, the peak current density, fp, is given by... 

For example, for iron in aqueous electrolytes, tlie tliennodynamic warning of tlie likelihood of corrosion is given by comparing tlie standard electrode potential of tlie metal oxidation, witli tlie potential of possible reduction reactions. 

Gibbs values and the effective electrode potential follows the Nemst equation (see section C2.11). For the oxidation (anodic) reaction, the potential (E ) of the Nemst equation can be written as ... 

Figure C3.6.4(a) shows an experimental chaotic attractor reconstmcted from tire Br electrode potential, i.e. tire logaritlim of tire Br ion concentration, in tlie BZ reaction [F7]. Such reconstmction is defined, in principle, for continuous time t. However, in practice, data are recorded as a discrete time series of measurements (A (tj) / = 1,...

At equilibrium at 298 K the electrode potential of the half-reaction for copper, given approximately by... 

Iodine has the lowest standard electrode potential of any of the common halogens (E = +0.54 V) and is consequently the least powerful oxidising agent. Indeed, the iodide ion can be oxidised to iodine by many reagents including air which will oxidise an acidified solution of iodide ions. However, iodine will oxidise arsenate(lll) to arsenate(V) in alkaline solution (the presence of sodium carbonate makes the solution sufficiently alkaline) but the reaction is reversible, for example by removal of iodine. 

Despite its electrode potential (p. 98), very pure zinc has little or no reaction with dilute acids. If impurities are present, local electrochemical cells are set up (cf the rusting of iron. p. 398) and the zinc reacts readily evolving hydrogen. Amalgamation of zinc with mercury reduces the reactivity by giving uniformity to the surface. Very pure zinc reacts readily with dilute acids if previously coated with copper by adding copper(II) sulphate ... 

The overpotential is defined as the difference between the actual potential of an electrode at a given current density and the reversible electrode potential for the reaction. 

In Section 8, the material on solubility constants has been doubled to 550 entries. Sections on proton transfer reactions, including some at various temperatures, formation constants of metal complexes with organic and inorganic ligands, buffer solutions of all types, reference electrodes, indicators, and electrode potentials are retained with some revisions. The material on conductances has been revised and expanded, particularly in the table on limiting equivalent ionic conductances. 

Oxidation Reactions. Potassium permanganate is a versatile oxidizing agent characterized by a high standard electrode potential that can be used under a wide range of reaction conditions (100,133—141). The permanganate ion can participate in a reaction in any of three distinct redox couples. 

The standard electrode potential for zinc reduction (—0.763 V) is much more cathodic than the potential for hydrogen evolution, and the two reactions proceed simultaneously, thereby reducing the electrochemical yield of zinc. Current efficiencies slightly above 90% are achieved in modem plants by careful purification of the electrolyte to bring the concentration of the most harmful impurities, eg, germanium, arsenic, and antimony, down to ca 0.01 mg/L. Addition of organic surfactants (qv) like glue, improves the quaUty of the deposit and the current efficiency. 

Compounds. When nitro compounds are reduced by electrochemical methods a number of products are possible depending on such factors as the nature of the electrode, the electrode potential, and the reaction media. For the reduction of nitroben2ene these products include aniline, /)-aminopheno1,j -ch1oroani1ine, phenyUiydroxylamine, a2oxyben2ene, a2oben2ene, and hydra2oben2ene (60). 

In the thermodynamic treatment of electrode potentials, the assumption was made that the reactions were reversible, which implies that the reactions occur infinitely slowly. This is never the case in practice. When a battery deUvers current, the electrode reactions depart from reversible behavior and the battery voltage decreases from its open circuit or equiUbrium voltage E. Thus the voltage during battery use or discharge E is lower than the voltage measured under open circuit or reversible conditions E by a quantity called the polari2ation Tj. 

To calculate the open circuit voltage of the lead—acid battery, an accurate value for the standard cell potential, which is consistent with the activity coefficients of sulfuric acid, must also be known. The standard cell potential for the double sulfate reaction is 2.048 V at 25 °C. This value is calculated from the standard electrode potentials for the (Pt)H2 H2S04(yw) PbS04 Pb02(Pt) electrode 1.690 V (14), for the Pb(Hg) PbS04 H2S04(yw) H2(Pt) electrode 0.3526 V (19), and for the Pb Pb2+ Pb(Hg) 0.0057 V (21). 

The thermodynamics of electrochemical reactions can be understood by considering the standard electrode potential, the potential of a reaction under standard conditions of temperature and pressure where all reactants and products are at unit activity. Table 1 Hsts a variety of standard electrode potentials. The standard potential is expressed relative to the standard hydrogen reference electrode potential in units of volts. A given reaction tends to proceed in the anodic direction, ie, toward the oxidation reaction, if the potential of the reaction is positive with respect to the standard potential. Conversely, a movement of the potential in the negative direction away from the standard potential encourages a cathodic or reduction reaction. 

Charge Transport. Side reactions can occur if the current distribution (electrode potential) along an electrode is not uniform. The side reactions can take the form of unwanted by-product formation or localized corrosion of the electrode. The problem of current distribution is addressed by the analysis of charge transport ia cell design. The path of current flow ia a cell is dependent on cell geometry, activation overpotential, concentration overpotential, and conductivity of the electrolyte and electrodes. Three types of current distribution can be described (48) when these factors are analyzed, a nontrivial exercise even for simple geometries (11). 

This handbook deals only with systems involving metallic materials and electrolytes. Both partners to the reaction are conductors. In corrosion reactions a partial electrochemical step occurs that is influenced by electrical variables. These include the electric current I flowing through the metal/electrolyte phase boundary, and the potential difference A( = 0, - arising at the interface. and represent the electric potentials of the partners to the reaction immediately at the interface. The potential difference A0 is not directly measurable. Therefore, instead the voltage U of the cell Me /metal/electrolyte/reference electrode/Me is measured as the conventional electrode potential of the metal. The connection to the voltmeter is made of the same conductor metal Me. The potential difference - 0 is negligibly small then since A0g = 0b - 0ei ... 

The electrode current depends on the rates of the coupled reactions, but by suitable adjustment of the electrode potential (into the diffusion current region for the electrode reaction) the rate of the reduction reaction can be made so fast that the current depends only on the rate of the prior chemical reaction. The dependence of the observed current on the presence of the chemical reaction is a measure of the rate. 

In addition to simple dissolution, ionic dissociation and solvolysis, two further classes of reaction are of pre-eminent importance in aqueous solution chemistry, namely acid-base reactions (p. 48) and oxidation-reduction reactions. In water, the oxygen atom is in its lowest oxidation state (—2). Standard reduction potentials (p. 435) of oxygen in acid and alkaline solution are listed in Table 14.10- and shown diagramatically in the scheme opposite. It is important to remember that if or OH appear in the electrode half-reaction, then the electrode potential will change markedly with the pH. Thus for the first reaction in Table 14.10 O2 -I-4H+ -I- 4e 2H2O, although E° = 1.229 V,... 

The standard electrode potentials , or the standard chemical potentials /X , may be used to calculate the free energy decrease —AG and the equilibrium constant /T of a corrosion reaction (see Appendix 20.2). Any corrosion reaction in aqueous solution must involve oxidation of the metal and reduction of a species in solution (an electron acceptor) with consequent electron transfer between the two reactants. Thus the corrosion of zinc ( In +zzn = —0-76 V) in a reducing acid of pH = 4 (a = 10 ) may be represented by the reaction ... 

Thus the tendency for an electrochemical reaction at a metal/solution interface to proceed in a given direction may be defined in terms of the relative values of the actual electrode potential E (experimentally determined and expressed with reference to the S.H.E.) and the reversible or equilibrium potential E, (calculated from E and the activities of the species involved in the equilibrium). 

Equation 10.2, which involves consumption of the metal and release of electrons, is termed an anodic reaction. Equation 10.3, which represents consumption of electrons and dissolved species in the environment, is termed a cathodic reaction. Whenever spontaneous corrosion reactions occur, all the electrons released in the anodic reaction are consumed in the cathodic reaction no excess or deficiency is found. Moreover, the metal normally takes up a more or less uniform electrode potential, often called the corrosion or mixed potential (Ecotr)-... 

The corrosion reaction may also be represented on a polarisation diagram (Fig. 10.4). The diagram shows how the rates of the anodic and cathodic reactions (both expressed in terms of current flow, I) vary with electrode potential, E. Thus at , the net rate of the anodic reaction is zero and it increases as the potential becomes more positive. At the net rate of the cathodic reaction is zero and it increases as the potential becomes more negative. (To be able to represent the anodic and cathodic reaction rates on the same axis, the modulus of the current has been drawn.) The two reaction rates are electrically equivalent at E , the corrosion potential, and the... 

When corrosion occurs, if the cathodic reactant is in plentiful supply, it can be shown both theoretically and practically that the cathodic kinetics are semi-logarithmic, as shown in Fig. 10.4. The rate of the cathodic reaction is governed by the rate at which electrical charge can be transferred at the metal surface. Such a process responds to changes in electrode potential giving rise to the semi-logarithmic behaviour. 

The thermodynamic and electrode-kinetic principles of cathodic protection have been discussed at some length in Section 10.1. It has been shown that, if electrons are supplied to the metal/electrolyte solution interface, the rate of the cathodic reaction is increased whilst the rate of the anodic reaction is decreased. Thus, corrosion is reduced. Concomitantly, the electrode potential of the metal becomes more negative. Corrosion may be prevented entirely if the rate of electron supply is such that the potential of the metal is lowered to the value where it is found that anodic dissolution does not occur. This may not necessarily be the potential at which dissolution is thermodynamically impossible. 

In this equation is the standard electrode potential of the water/oxygen reaction, i.e. —AG% o/nF. Simplifying, equation 12.4 at 298K becomes... 

Equations 20.176 and 20.179 emphasise the essentially thermodynamic nature of the standard equilibrium e.m.f. of a cell or the standard equilibrium potential of a half-reaction E, which may be evaluated directly from e.m.f. meeisurements of a reversible cell or indirectly from AG , which in turn must be evaluated from the enthalpy of the reaction and the entropies of the species involved (see equation 20.147). Thus for the equilibrium Cu -)-2e Cu, the standard electrode potential u2+/cu> hence can be determined by an e.m.f. method by harnessing the reaction... 

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