Enthalpy cells

This reaction has been carefully studied with the aim of obtaining the enthalpy of combustion as electrical energy, and successful hydrazine-air fuel cells have been developed using potassium hydroxide as the electrolyte. The hydrazine fuel, however, has the disadvantage that it is expensive and poisonous. 

Qg, enthalpy to produce aluminum Qg, cell heat losses Qg bus heat loss. 

In some instances, however, pai t of the chemical energy bound in relatively high-enthalpy compounds can be converted directly to electricity as these reactants are converted to produc ts of lower enthalpy (galvanic action). A process in the opposite direc tion also is possible for some systems an elec tric current can be absorbed as the increased chemical energy of the higher-enthalpy compounds (electrolytic action). The devices in which electrochemical energy conversion processes occur are called cells. 

Galvanic cells in which stored chemicals can be reacted on demand to produce an electric current are termed primaiy cells. The discharging reac tion is irreversible and the contents, once exhausted, must be replaced or the cell discarded. Examples are the dry cells that activate small appliances. In some galvanic cells (called secondaiy cells), however, the reaction is reversible that is, application of an elec trical potential across the electrodes in the opposite direc tion will restore the reactants to their high-enthalpy state. Examples are rechargeable batteries for household appliances, automobiles, and many industrial applications. Electrolytic cells are the reactors upon which the electrochemical process, elec troplating, and electrowinning industries are based. 

Temperature, K Enthalpy of reaction (AH ), kj/mol Free energy of reaction (AG ), kJ/mol Equilibrium cell potential (E ), V... 

The thermodynamic stability of a protein in its native state is small and depends on the differences in entropy and enthalpy between the native state and the unfolded state. From the biological point of view it is important that this free energy difference is small because cells must be able to degrade proteins as well as synthesize them, and the functions of many proteins require structural flexibility. 

An electrochemical cell is a device by means of which the enthalpy (or heat content) of a spontaneous chemical reaction is converted into electrical energy conversely, an electrolytic cell is a device in which electrical energy is used to bring about a chemical change with a consequent increase in the enthalpy of the system. Both types of cells are characterised by the fact that during their operation charge transfer takes place at one electrode in a direction that leads to the oxidation of either the electrode or of a species in solution, whilst the converse process of reduction occurs at the other electrode. 

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... 

For the electrochemical cell reaction, the reaction free energy AG is the utilizable electrical energy. The reaction enthalpy AH is the theoretical available energy, which is increased or reduced by an amount TAS. The product of the temperature and the entropy describes the amount of heat consumed or released reversibly during the reaction. With tabulated values for the enthalpy and the entropy it is possible to obtain AG. ... 

The reversible reaction heat of the cell is defined as the reaction entropy multiplied by the temperature [Eq. (15)]. For an electrochemical cell it is also called the Peltier effect and can be described as the difference between the reaction enthalpy AH and the reaction free energy AG. If the difference between the reaction free energy AG and the reaction enthalpy AH is below zero, the cell becomes warmer. On the other hand, for a difference larger than zero, it cools down. The reversible heat W of the electrochemical cell is therefore ... 

It follows from the second law of thermodynamics that the optimal free energy of a hydrocarbon-water mixture is a function of both maximal enthalpy (from hydrogen bonding) and minimum entropy (maximum degrees of freedom). Thus, nonpolar molecules tend to form droplets with minimal exposed surface area, reducing the number of water molecules affected. For the same reason, in the aqueous environment of the hving cell the hydrophobic portions of biopolymers tend to be buried inside the structure of the molecule, or within a lipid bilayer, minimizing contact with water. 

The theoretical efficiency of a fuel cell is given by the ratio between the Gibbs free energy (AG) which is the maximum electrical work that can be obtained, and the enthalpy (A//) of the fuel (Equation 6.3). 

Hydrogen, a fuel that releases a large amount of chemical energy when it bums, is used as an energy source in fuel cells. Use standard enthalpies of formation to calculate the change in mass that occurs when 1.00 mol of H2 is burned. 

For a redox reaction in an electrochemical cell the decrease in free enthalpy (- AG) is in accordance with the energy delivered by the transfer of electrons through an external circuit if this takes place in a reversible way, i.e., at a rate slow enough to allow complete attainment of equilibrium, the conversion of 1 gram mole will deliver an electrical energy of - AG = z FE. In total cell reaction mred, + n ox2 m ox, + nred2, where m81 = nS2 electrons are transfered (<5, and S2 represent the respective valence differences of the two redox systems), we have... 

For example, consider a system in which metallic zinc is immersed in a solution of copper(II) ions. Copper in the solution is replaced by zinc which is dissolved and metallic copper is deposited on the zinc. The entire change of enthalpy in this process is converted to heat. If, however, this reaction is carried out by immersing a zinc rod into a solution of zinc ions and a copper rod into a solution of copper ions and the solutions are brought into contact (e.g. across a porous diaphragm, to prevent mixing), then zinc will pass into the solution of zinc ions and copper will be deposited from the solution of copper ions only when both metals are connected externally by a conductor so that there is a closed circuit. The cell can then carry out work in the external part of the circuit. In the first arrangement, reversible reaction is impossible but it becomes possible in the second, provided that the other conditions for reversibility are fulfilled. 

If the dependence of the EMF on the temperature is known, then the reaction enthalpy AH of the reaction proceeding outside the cell can be found. Cells with a positive EMF, E, and a negative temperature quotient BE 1ST release heat in addition to electrical energy during reversible processes... 

If the dependence of the EMF of a cell on temperature is known, the same value of the reaction enthalpy AH can be determined as if the reaction took place outside the cell. 

Now, it is necessary to calibrate the calorimeter in order to analyze quantitatively the recorded thermograms and determine the amount of heat evolved by the interaction of a dose of gas with the adsorbent surface. The use of a standard substance or of a standard reaction is certainly the most simple and reliable method, though indirect, for calibrating a calorimeter, since it does not require any modification of the inner cell arrangement. [For a recent review on calibration procedures, see 72).3 No standard adsorbent-adsorbate system has been defined, however, and the direct electrical calibration must therefore be used. It should be remarked, moreover, that the comparison of the experimental heat of a catalytic reaction with the known change of enthalpy associated with the reaction at the same temperature provides, in some favorable cases, a direct control of the electrical calibration (see Section VII.C). 

Gorman-Lewis D, Fein JB, Jensen MP (2006) Enthalpies and entropies of proton and cadmium adsorption onto Bacillus subtilis bacterial cells from calorimetric measurements. Geochim Cosmochim Acta 70 4862-4873... 

Fig. 12. Ras in complex with GppNHp at 600 pmol/1 is injected into a solution of 45 pmol/1 RalGDS-RBD. In the upper panel the (peakwise) change of the heating power is recorded which is necessary to keep the cell at constant temperature after each injection. The integrated peaks of the upper panel are plotted vs the molar ratio of Ras GppNHp/RalGDS in the lower panel. The fitted curve yields the data in the box, where N indicates the stoichiometry, K the affinity constant and H the enthalpy of binding...

Pure potassium bromide, KBr, which adopts the sodium chloride structure, has the fraction of empty cation sites due to Schottky defects, ncv/Nc, equal to 9.159xl0-21 at 20°C. (a) Estimate the enthalpy of formation of a Schottky defect, Ahs. (b) Calculate the number of anion vacancies per cubic meter of KBr at 730°C (just below the melting point of KBr). The unit cell of KBr is cubic with edge length a = 0.6600 nm and contains four formula units of KBr. 

The favored defect type in strontium fluoride, which adopts the fluorite structure, are Frenkel defects on the anion sublattice. The enthalpy of formation of an anion Frenkel defect is estimated to be 167.88 kJ mol-1. Calculate the number of F- interstitials and vacancies due to anion Frenkel defects per cubic meter in SrF2 at 1000°C. The unit cell is cubic, with a cell edge of 0.57996 nm and contains four formula units of SrF2. It is reasonable to assume that the number of suitable interstitial sites is half that of the number of anion sites. 

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