Electrode systems potentiometry

A schematic diagram of a typical pH electrode system is shown in Fig. 10.1. The cell potential, i.e. the electromotive force, is measured between a pH electrode and a reference electrode in a test solution. The pH electrode responds to the activity or concentration of hydrogen ions in the solution. The reference electrode has a very stable half-cell potential. The most commonly used reference electrodes for potentiometry are the silver/silver chloride electrodes (Ag/AgCl) and the saturated calomel electrodes (SCE). 

Electrode Systems. Direct Potentiometric Measurements. Potentiometric Titrations. Null -point Potentiometry. Applications of Potentiometry. 

In addition, sodium valproate can be potentiometri-cally titrated with standardized 0.1 N perchloric acid using a modified glass-calomel electrode system, in which 0.1 N lithium perchlorate in acetic acid has been substituted for potassium chloride, and employing glacial acetic acid as the sample solvent. 

Potentiometry involves the use of electrode systems known as voltaic cells... 

Hg2 ion-selective electrode calibration curve from J. A. Shatkin, H. S. Brown, and S. licht, Composite Graphite Ion Selective Electrode Array Potentiometry for the Detection of Mercury and Other Relevant Ions in Aquatic Systems, Anal. Chem. 1995, 67,1147. It was not stated in the paper, but we presume that all solutions had the same ionic strength. 

When voltammetry measurements are made in nonaqueous solvents, the problems of an adequate reference electrode are compounded. Until the 1960s the most common reference electrode was the mercury pool, because of its convenience rather than because of its reliability. With the advent of sophisticated electronic voltammetric instrumentation, more reliable reference electrodes have been possible, especially if a three-electrode system is used. Thus, variation of the potential of the counter electrode is not a problem if a second non-current-canying reference electrode is used to monitor the potential of the sensing electrode. If three-eleetrode instrumentation is used, any of the conventional reference electrodes common to potentiometry may be used satisfactorily. Our own preference is a silver chloride electrode connected to the sample solution by an appropriate noninterfering salt bridge. The one problem with this system is that it introduces a junction potential between the two solvent systems that may be quite large. However, such a reference system is reproducible and should ensure that two groups of workers can obtain the same results. 

Open-circuit potential (OCP) — This is the - potential of the - working electrode relative to the - reference electrode when no potential or - current is being applied to the - cell [i]. In case of a reversible electrode system (- reversibility) the OCP is also referred to as the - equilibrium potential. Otherwise it is called the - rest potential, or the - corrosion potential, depending on the studied system. The OCP is measured using high-input - impedance voltmeters, or potentiometers, as in - potentiometry. OCP s of - electrodes of the first, the second, and the third kind, of - redox electrodes and of - ion-selective membrane electrodes are defined by the - Nernst equation. The - corrosion po-... 

Electrode systems. Direct poientiometric measurements. Potentio-metric titrations. Null-point potentiometry. Applications of potentiometry. 

Both direct potentiometry and the potentiometric titration method (see next Section) require the measurement of emf between an indicator electrode system and a reference electrode system, the two comprising a cell system. Despite the fact that potentials are usually referred to the standard hydrogen electrode (SHE) for tabulation purposes, they can be expressed relative to any acceptable reference system. In practice, the common reference electrodes are saturated KCl calomel (SCE), 3M KCl calomel or 3M KCl Ag/AgCl. In many present-day applications, the indicator and reference electrodes are combined in a single electrode system called a "combination electrode". 

An important condition for potentiometry is high selectivity the electrode s potential shonld respond only to the snbstance being examined, not to other components in the solntion. This condition greatly restricts the possibilities of the version of potentiometry described here when metal electrodes are nsed as the indicator electrodes. The solntion shonld be free of ions of more electropositive metals and of the components of other redox systems (in particnlar, dissolved air). Only corrosion-resistant materials can be nsed as electrodes. It is not possible at all with this method to determine alkali or alkaline-earth metal ions in aqneons solntions. 

Apart from the necessity of excluding interferences from any diffusion potential, normal potentiometry requires accurate determination of the emf, i.e., without any perceptible drawing off of current from the cell therefore, usually one uses the so-called Poggendorff method for exact compensation measurement the later application of high-resistance glass and other membrane electrodes has led to the modern commercial high-impedance pH and PI meters with high amplification in order to detect the emf null point in the balanced system. 

Only a small selection of the variants in the electrochemical literature can be mentioned here. Thus, impedance techniques (small amplitude sinusoidal perturbation at the electrode with observation of the system s response [22]) as well as polaro-graphic methods (at mercury electrodes) will not be described. Since the notion of a reaction mechanism requires consumption of substance, equilibrium techniques (such as potentiometry) will also not be discussed here. 

As stated on p. 28, an analytically ideal sensor would determine the deter-minand both specifically and quantitatively. In potentiometry, this would require an electrode sensitive to one single substance among all the components of the system. 

Potentiometry and potentiometric titrations are widely used in studying various types of reactions and equilibria in non-aqueous systems (Sections 6.3.1-6.3.4). They also provide a convenient method of solvent characterization (Section 6.3.5). Moreover, if the electrode potentials in different solvents can accurately be compared, potentiometry is a powerful method of studying ion solvation (Section 6.3.6). 

Equation 2.16 shows that potentiometry is a valuable method for the determination of equilibrium constants, ffowever, it should be borne in mind that the system should be in equilibrium. Some other conditions, which are described below, also need to be fulhlled for use of potentiometry in any application. The basic measurement system must include an indicator electrode that is capable of monitoring the activity of the species of interest, and a reference electrode that gives a constant, known half-cell potential to which the measured indicator electrode potential can be referred. The voltage resulting from the combination of these two electrodes must be measured in a manner that minimises the amount of current drawn by the measuring system. This condition includes that the impedance of the measuring device should be much higher than that of the electrode. 

Current methods used to measure antioxidant activity are complicated, expensive, time-consuming, and as a rule, cannot be used for continuous monitoring. Potentiometry with the use of a mediator system and nanoparticles containing electrodes provides a very simple express-method for measuring antioxidant activity of biological liquids, nutrients, drugs and foodstuffs. 

Potentiometry has found extensive application over the past half-century as a means to evaluate various thermodynamic parameters. Although this is not the major application of the technique today, it still provides one of the most convenient and reliable approaches to the evaluation of thermodynamic quantities. In particular, the activity coefficients of electroactive species can be evaluated directly through the use of the Nemst equation (for species that give a reversible electrochemical response). Thus, if an electrochemical system is used without a junction potential and with a reference electrode that has a well-established potential, then potentiometric measurement of the constituent species at a known concentration provides a direct measure of its activity. This provides a direct means for evaluation of the activity coefficient (assuming that the standard potential is known accurately for the constituent half-reaction). If the standard half-reaction potential is not available, it must be evaluated under conditions where the activity coefficient can be determined by the Debye-Hiickel equation. 

The goal of this volume is to provide (1) an introduction to the basic principles of electrochemistry (Chapter 1), potentiometry (Chapter 2), voltammetry (Chapter 3), and electrochemical titrations (Chapter 4) (2) a practical, up-to-date summary of indicator electrodes (Chapter 5), electrochemical cells and instrumentation (Chapter 6), and solvents and electrolytes (Chapter 7) and (3) illustrative examples of molecular characterization (via electrochemical measurements) of hydronium ion, Br0nsted acids, and H2 (Chapter 8) dioxygen species (02, OJ/HOO-, HOOH) and H20/H0 (Chapter 9) metals, metal compounds, and metal complexes (Chapter 10) nonmetals (Chapter 11) carbon compounds (Chapter 12) and organometallic compounds and metallopor-phyrins (Chapter 13). The later chapters contain specific characterizations of representative molecules within a class, which we hope will reduce the barriers of unfamiliarity and encourage the reader to make use of electrochemistry for related chemical systems. 

Measurements can be done using the technique of redox potentiometry. In experiments of this type, mitochondria are incubated anaerobically in the presence of a reference electrode [for example, a hydrogen electrode (Chap. 10)] and a platinum electrode and with secondary redox mediators. These mediators form redox pairs with Ea values intermediate between the reference electrode and the electron-transport-chain component of interest they permit rapid equilibration of electrons between the electrode and the electron-transport-chain component. The experimental system is allowed to reach equilibrium at a particular E value. This value can then be changed by addition of a reducing agent (such as reduced ascorbate or NADH), and the relationship between E and the levels of oxidized and reduced electron-transport-chain components is measured. The 0 values can then be calculated using the Nernst equation (Chap. 10) ... 

---