Faradaic currents, redox reactions

Influence of the Kinetics of Electron Transfer on the Faradaic Current The rate of mass transport is one factor influencing the current in a voltammetric experiment. The ease with which electrons are transferred between the electrode and the reactants and products in solution also affects the current. When electron transfer kinetics are fast, the redox reaction is at equilibrium, and the concentrations of reactants and products at the electrode are those specified by the Nernst equation. Such systems are considered electrochemically reversible. In other systems, when electron transfer kinetics are sufficiently slow, the concentration of reactants and products at the electrode surface, and thus the current, differ from that predicted by the Nernst equation. In this case the system is electrochemically irreversible. 

Nonfaradaic Currents Faradaic currents result from a redox reaction at the electrode surface. Other currents may also exist in an electrochemical cell that are unrelated to any redox reaction. These currents are called nonfaradaic currents and must be accounted for if the faradaic component of the measured current is to be determined. 

When the area A of the eleetrode/solution interface with a redox system in the solution varies (e.g. when using a streaming mercury electrode), the double layer capacity which is proportional to A, varies too. The corresponding double layer eharging current has to be supplied at open eireuit eonditions by the Faradaic current of the redox reaction. The associated overpotential can be measured with respect to a reference electrode. By measuring the overpotential at different capaeitive eurrent densities (i.e. Faradaic current densities) the current density vs. eleetrode potential relationship can be determined, subsequently kinetic data can be obtained [65Del3]. (Data obtained with this method are labelled OC.)... 

A complication that occurs on a low at.% Ru electrode is that, owing to the low Faradaic currents (low Ru content) and hence large Rt value, currents due to other trace redox reactions, e.g. oxygen reduction, become more detectable. This reveals itself in a phase-angle of 45° as co 0 as trace oxygen reduction would be diffusion-controlled. The impedance corresponding to this situation can be shown to be the same as that in Equation 5.3, with U(p) expressed by the relationship ... 

In a CV measurement, the current output always contains two components the Faradaic current, /F, due to the reaction of the redox species and the capacitive charging current, /c, which results from the charging of the electrode double layer and the diffusion layer. (This diffusion layer contains all charged and polar species in the solution and therefore differs from that of the redox species.) While /F changes linearly with vm as determined by diffusion, Ic is directly proportional to v as shown below, where CD is the total electrode capacitance and q the added capacitance charge ... 

Sampled current voltammetry uses a staircase voltage profile for measurements with successive, static drops of Hg. One second after each voltage step, charging current is nearly 0. but there is still substantial faradaic current from the redox reaction. 

The first knowledge about the relationship between the rate of an electrochemical reaction and the imposed interfacial potential was obtained from the work of Tafel [1] who found empirically that this relationship is exponential if jF is the faradaic current involved, e.g. in the redox reaction 0 + ne=R... 

In a practical vein, one does not always know either the standard redox potential or the redox state for the species in solution. In this case a potential can usually be found (by trial and error or by measuring the open-circuit potential) that when applied does not cause faradaic current to occur. Such a potential is generally suitable for Ej since the absence of current (other than charging current) can be taken as evidence that no significant electrolytic perturbation of the reaction layer is occurring. One can then find the redox couple by scanning in either direction from this Ej. 

Using the faradaic current derived from a redox reaction at an electrode a versatile chemical analytical method can be established. Applying a distinct potentiostatically controlled voltage between a working electrode and the electrolyte, with the redox species electrochemically converted only at the electrodes, results in a stationary current following Eq. 3. In this case, a diffusion controlled measurement of redox species can be obtained. 

In this analysis, it is assumed that the redox couple is adsorbed on the electrode surface and is not present in solution, or its concentration is sufficiently low such that its contribution to the Faradaic current is negligible. Other assumptions are that all adsorption sites on the surface are assumed to be equivalent and the oxidized and reduced forms occupy equal areas on the surface. Moreover, adsorption and desorption are rapid and do not influence the kinetics of the electrochemical reaction. The free energy of adsorption and maximum or limiting surface coverage,... 

This type of electrode is a source or sink of electrons, permitting electron transfer without itself entering into the reaction, as is the case for the first or second type of electrodes. For this reason they are called redox or inert electrodes. In reality the concept of an inert electrode is idealistic, given that the surface of an electrode has to exert an influence on the electrode reaction (perhaps small) and can form bonds with species in solution (formation of oxides, adsorption, etc.). Such processes give rise to non-faradaic currents (faradaic currents are due to interfacial electron transfer). This topic will be developed further in subsequent chapters. 

SPR detection of hybridization and denaturation kinetics for tethered ssDNA thiol on gold was achieved by monitoring the gain or loss of DNA at the interface in the presence of an applied electrostatic field. Redox reactions were avoided and the current measured was limited to the capacitive, non-faradaic charging current, at selected potentials applied to the gold electrode interface, as described by Georgiadis and co-workers [47], The specific DNA thiol monolayer films were robust and could be reused. 

EIS has been used to study the kineties of outer-sphere redox reactions at semiconductors in the dark (Meier et al., 1991 Meier et al., 1999). The reactions involve majority carriers (electrons for n-type materials), and the electrode behaves like a metal with a low and potential-dependent electron density. The EIS response can be modelled by the equivalent circuit shown in Eig. 12.1, where is interpreted as the faradaic resistance obtained by linearising the potential dependence of the current associated with electron transfer to the redox species. 

In IP, there exist two paths by which current may pass the interface between the solid particle and the electrolyte the faradaic and nonfaradaic paths. Current passage in the faradaic path is the result of electrochemical reactions (redox reactions) and the diffusion of charge toward or off the Helmholtz double layer and aqueous solution interface, that is, Warburg impedance. In the nonfaradaic case, charged particles do not cross the interface. Instead, the current is carried by... 

Fig. 2.18 An equivalent circuit representing an electrode/solution interface. The electrode surface is covered by a monolayer of a redox-active species. e ac potential across the faradaic unit of equivalent circuit, Ca double-layer capacitance, Rs -uncompensated solution resistance, Zf impedance representing solely the electron transfer reaction process of the monolayer, )> ac current due to the faradaic process, Z, total impedance of the whole system, ks. heterogeneous electron transfer rate constant of the monolayer of electroactive species, R charge transfer resistance, Q capacitance associated with the redox reaction of the adsorbed species.

The contribution of faradaic and double-layer capacitances in the response of DG-structured V2O5 can be estimated by comparing the CV curves of devices that use RTIL electrolyte with and without lithium salt, shown in Fig. 5.14b. Since V2O5 does not react with either of the ions of pure RTIL, the lithium-free experiment tests the EDLC response. With lithium salt added, the significant increase in capacitive current and the appearance of peak pairs indicates that redox reactions are taking place. These faradaic processes are kinetically facile and thus considered pseudocapacitive, but phase transitions may occur. Although it is difficult to distinguish between redox and intercalation pseudocapacitance, the latter is likely to be present in DG bicontinuous materials. 

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