Quantitative electrolysis

Solutions of nitric acid in 100% sulphuric acid have a high electrical conductivity. If nitric acid is converted into a cation in these solutions, then the migration of nitric acid to the cathode should be observed in electrolysis. This has been demonstrated to occur in oleum and, less conclusively, in concentrated acid, observations consistent with the formation of the nitronium ion, or the mono- or di-protonated forms of nitric acid. Conductimetric measurements confirm the quantitative conversion of nitric acid into nitronium ion in sulphuric acid. ... 

Coulometric methods of analysis are based on an exhaustive electrolysis of the analyte. By exhaustive we mean that the analyte is quantitatively oxidized or reduced at the working electrode or reacts quantitatively with a reagent generated at the working electrode. There are two forms of coulometry controlled-potential coulometry, in which a constant potential is applied to the electrochemical cell, and controlled-current coulometry, in which a constant current is passed through the electrochemical cell. 

From this equation we see that increasing k leads to a shorter analysis time. For this reason controlled-potential coulometry is carried out in small-volume electrochemical cells, using electrodes with large surface areas and with high stirring rates. A quantitative electrolysis typically requires approximately 30-60 min, although shorter or longer times are possible. 

Quantitative Calculations The absolute amount of analyte in a coulometric analysis is determined by applying Faraday s law (equation 11.23) with the total charge during the electrolysis given by equation 11.24 or equation 11.25. Example 11.8 shows the calculations for a typical coulometric analysis. 

Some years after Davy s death, Faraday examined the corrosion of cast iron in sea water and found that it corrodes faster near the water surface than deeper down. In 1834 he discovered the quantitative connection between corrosion weight loss and electric current. With this discovery he laid the scientific foundation of electrolysis and the principles of cathodic protection. 

Faraday developed the laws of electrolysis between 1831 and 1834. In mid-December of 1833. he began a quantitative study of the electrolysis of several metal cations, including Sn2+, Pb2+, and Znz+. Despite taking a whole day off for Christmas, he managed to complete these experiments, write up the results of three years work, and get his paper published in the Philosophic Transactions of the Hoyal Society on January 9,1834. In this paper, Faraday introduced the basic vocabulary of electrochemistry, using for the first time the terms "anode," cathode," ion, "electrolyte," and "electrolysis."... 

The quantitative execution of chemical reactions is the basis of the traditional or classical methods of chemical analysis gravimetry, titrimetry and volumetry. In gravimetric analysis the substance being determined is converted into an insoluble precipitate which is collected and weighed, or in the special case of electrogravimetry electrolysis is carried out and the material deposited on one of the electrodes is weighed. 

A much improved synthesis of perfluoroalkanesulphonyl fluorides from sulphones has been published. This involves the electrolysis of cyclic unsaturated sulphones in anhydrous HF at 8-10°C using a potential of 5-7 volts. Thus, butadiene sulphone was oxidized to perfluorobutanesulphonyl fluoride in quantitative yield211 (equation 94). 

At this point, special mention37 should be made of the behaviour of highly conjugated ethylenic sulphones in weakly acidic media. For example, in the case when R1 =Ph (Z isomer), a fairly stable anion radical was obtained in dry DMF. However, either in aprotic (consecutive two one-electron transfer) or in protic media (ECE process, occurrence of the protonation step on anion radical), C—S bond cleavage is observed. The formation of the corresponding olefins by C—S bond cleavage may occur in high yield, and is nearly quantitative when R1 = H and R2 = Ph for an electrolysis conducted in... 

What Do We Need to Know Already This chapter extends the thermodynamic discussion presented in Chapter 7. In particular, it builds on the concept of Gibbs free energy (Section 7.12), its relation to maximum nonexpansion work (Section 7.14), and the dependence of the reaction Gibbs free energy on the reaction quotient (Section 9.3). For a review of redox reactions, see Section K. To prepare for the quantitative treatment of electrolysis, review stoichiometry in Section L. 

A further difficulty arises during preparative electrolyses in aprotic solvents because of the bulk pH change which commonly occurs. Thus cathodic reductions often require proton abstraction from the solvent in order to yield stable products, while many anodic oxidations, mcluding those of aromatic and aliphatic hydrocarbons, give rise to a quantitative yield of proton and the consequent changes in the pH. of the electrolysis media would be expected to lead to a variation in the products with the duration of the electrolysis. Unfortunately, the pH can be a very difficult parameter to control in aprotic solvents and most work reported in the literature has been carried out in unbuffered conditions. In the case of oxidations, organic bases, e.g. pyridine, have... 

Quantitative analysis can be carried out by chromatography (in gas or liquid phase) during prolonged electrolysis of methanol. The main product is carbon dioxide,which is the only desirable oxidation product in the DMFC. However, small amounts of formic acid and formaldehyde have been detected, mainly on pure platinum electrodes. The concentrations of partially oxidized products can be lowered by using platinum-based alloy electrocatalysts for instance, the concentration of carbon dioxide increases significantly with R-Ru and Pt-Ru-Sn electrodes, which thus shows a more complete reaction with alloy electrocatalysts. 

One of the attractive features of SECM is that the UME tip response is based on well-established electrochemical principles, making the technique quantitative. This aspect of SECM can be illustrated by considering the case of simple diffusion-limited electrolysis at an amperometric disk-shaped tip. When the tip is positioned a long way from the target... 

It is not usual to talk about the resistance of electrolytes, but rather about their conductance. The specific conductance (K) of an electrolyte is defined as the reciprocal of the resistance of a part of the electrolyte, 1 cm in length and 1 cm2 in cross-sectional area. It depends only on the ions present and, therefore it varies with their concentration. To take the effect of concentration into account, a function called the equivalent conductance, A, is defined. This is more commonly (and conveniently) used than the specific conductance to compare quantitatively the conductivities of electrolytes. The equivalent conductance A is the conductance of that volume of the electrolyte which contains one gram equivalent of the ions taking part in the electrolysis and which is held between parallel electrodes 1 cm apart (units ohm-1 cm4). If V cubic centimeters is the volume of the solution containing one gram equivalent, then the value of L will be 1 cm and the value of A will be V square centimeters, so that... 

In electrogravimetry, also called electrodeposition, an element, e.g., a metal such as copper, is completely precipitated from its ionic solution on an inert cathode, e.g., platinum gauze, via electrolysis and the amount of precipitate is established gravimetrically in the newer and more selective methods one applies slow electrolysis (without stirring) or rapid electrolysis (with stirring), both procedures either with a controlled potential or with a constant current. Often such a method is preceded by an electrolytic separation using a stirred cathodic mercury pool, by means of which elements such as Fe, Ni, Co, Cu, Zn and Cd are quantitatively taken up from an acidic solution whilst other elements remain in solution. 

Parathion may be determined quantitatively by means of the polarograph. The electrolysis is carried out in an acetone-water solution with 0.05 N potassium chloride as the electrolyte, and 0.01% gelatin as the suppressor at 25° = = 0.5° C. An accuracy of =fcl% is obtained. Several commercial products were analyzed. 

When NH4PF6 was employed as the supporting electrolyte, no CO was produced but near-quantitative formation of H2 was observed. During the electrolysis an air-stable, green, sparingly soluble material was produced, which was isolated and characterised as the dimer, Bipy)Re[CO]3 2. It was fairly reasonable to assume that this was formed via dimerisation of the radical (Bipy)Re[CO]3. The authors postulated that more dimerisation occurs in the presence of a non-coordinating anion such as PF , rather than coordinating anions such as Cl- or CIO , due to the labilisation (and loss) of Cl and thus the exposure of the sixth coordination site and subsequent dimerisation. 

Other methods use the electrochemical properties of the bromine-tribromide couple. In these techniques, very small bromine concentrations are first produced by quantitative electrolysis of a bromide added to the reaction medium (Poupard et al., 1983). After adding the alkene, the bromine uptake is followed either potentiometrically or amperometrically. In the concen-trostat technique (Dubois et al., 1965, 1973a), the bromine concentration... 

Coulometric methods of analysis involve measuring the quantity of electricity required to effect a quantitative chemical or electrochemical reaction and are based on Faraday s laws of electrolysis ... 

Faraday s laws of electrolysis form the basis of quantitative coulomet-ric analysis. They are ... 

We can recognize four main periods in the history of the study of aqueous solutions. Each period starts with one or more basic discoveries or advances in theoretical understanding. The first period, from about 1800 to 1890, was triggered by the discovery of the electrolysis of water followed by the investigation of other electrolysis reactions and electrochemical cells. Developments during this period are associated with names such as Davy, Faraday, Gay-Lussac, Hittorf, Ostwald, and Kohlrausch. The distinction between electrolytes and nonelectrolytes was made, the laws of electrolysis were quantitatively formulated, the electrical conductivity of electrolyte solutions was studied, and the concept of independent ions in solutions was proposed. 

The metallothermic reduction of the oxides by La produces the metals Sm, Eu, Tm, Yb, all having high vapour pressures. The reaction goes to completion due to the removal of the rare earths by volatilization from the reaction chamber (lanthanum has a low vapour pressure). The remaining rare earth metals (Sc, La, Ce, Pr, Nd, Y, Gd, Tb, Dy, Ho, Er, Lu) can be obtained by quantitative conversion of the oxides in fluorides, followed by reduction with Ca. The metallothermic reduction of the anhydrous rare earth chlorides could be also used to obtain La, Ce, Pr and Nd. The molten electrolysis can be applied to obtain only the first four lanthanide metals, La, Ce, Pr and Nd, because of the high reactivity of the materials that limits the operating temperatures to 1100°C or lower. 

How are galvanic and electrolytic cells built, and how do they function What equations are used to describe these types of cells How can you solve quantitative problems related to electrolysis ... 

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