Galvanic cells process

Galvanic processes are spontaneous (AG < 0) when the reaction proceeds as written. Batteries and corrosion are examples of galvanic cells. Processes in electrolytic cells are not spontaneous and an external voltage must be applied to make the reaction proceed in... 

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. 

Heat of Precipitation. Entropy of Solution and Partial Molal Entropy. The Unitary Part of the Entropy. Equilibrium in Proton Transfers. Equilibrium in Any Process. The Unitary Part of a Free Energy Change. The Conventional Standard Free Energy Change. Proton Transfers Involving a Solvent Molecule. The Conventional Standard Free Energy of Solution. The Disparity of a Solution. The E.M.F. of Galvanic Cells. 

From the chemical viewpoint, the galvanic cell is a current source in which a local separation of oxidation and reduction process exists. This is explained below by the example of the Daniell element (Fig. 3). Here the galvanic cell contains copper as the positive electrode, zinc as the nega-... 

Secondary cells are galvanic cells that must be charged before they can be used this type of cell is normally rechargeable. The batteries used in portable computers and automobiles are secondary cells. In the charging process, an external source of electricity reverses the spontaneous cell reaction and creates a nonequilibrium mixture of reactants. After charging, the cell can again produce electricity. 

Galvanic cells use redox reactions to generate electrical current. Electrical current can also drive redox reactions, and the same stoichiometric relationships apply to such processes, as we describe in Section 19-1. 

When currents flow in galvanic cells, the polarization phenomena that arise at any one of the two electrodes are independent of the properties of the second electrode and of the processes occurring there. Therefore, when studying these phenomena, one considers the behavior of each electrode individually. 

It should be noted that the reversibility of the galvanic cell has so far been considered from a purely thermodynamic point of view. Reversible electrode processes are sometimes considered in electrochemistry in a rather different sense, as will be described in Chapter 5. 

The dissolution of zinc in a mineral acid is much faster when the zinc contains an admixture of copper. This is because the surface of the metal contains copper crystallites at which hydrogen evolution occurs with a much lower overpotential than at zinc (see Fig. 5.54C). The mixed potential is shifted to a more positive value, E mix, and the corrosion current increases. In this case the cathodic and anodic processes occur on separate surfaces. This phenomenon is termed corrosion of a chemically heterogeneous surface. In the solution an electric current flows between the cathodic and anodic domains which represent short-circuited electrodes of a galvanic cell. A. de la Rive assumed this to be the only kind of corrosion, calling these systems local cells. 

In the galvanic cell, the zinc anode gradually dissolves. The copper cathode grows as more copper is deposited onto it. In the electrolytic cell, the copper anode gradually dissolves. The zinc cathode grows as more zinc is deposited onto it. The process in which a metal is deposited, or plated, onto the cathode in an electrolytic cell is known as electroplating. Electroplating is very important in industry, as you will learn later in this chapter. 

If iron is covered with a protective layer of a metal that is less reactive than iron, there can be unfortunate results. A tin can is actually a steel can coated with a thin layer of tin. While the tin layer remains intact, it provides effective protection against rusting. If the tin layer is broken or scratched, however, the iron in the steel corrodes faster in contact with the tin than the iron would on its own. Since tin is less reactive than iron, tin acts as a cathode in each galvanic cell on the surface of the can. Therefore, the tin provides a large area of available cathodes for the small galvanic cells involved in the rusting process. Iron acts as the anode of each cell, which is its normal role when rusting. 

GITT also provides very comprehensive information about the kinetic parameters of the electrode by analysis of the electrical current. The current 1, which is driven through the galvanic cell by an external current or voltage source, determines the number of electroactive species added to (or taken away from) the electrode and discharged at the electrode/ electrolyte interface. A chemical diffusion process occurs within the electrode and the current corresponds to the motion of mobile ionic species within the electrode just inside the phase boundary with the electrolyte (at x = 0)... 

Semiconductor electrodes can be used in galvanic cells like metal electrodes and a controlled electrode potential can be applied by means of a potentiostat, if the electrode can be contacted with a suitable metal without formation of a barrier layer (ohmic contact). Suitable techniques for ohmic contacts have been worked out in connection with semiconductor electronics. Surface treatment is important for the properties of semiconductor electrodes in all kind of charge transfer processes and especially in the photoresponse. Mechanical polishing generates a great number of new electronic states underneath the surface 29> which can act as quenchers for excited molecules at the interface. Therefore, sufficient etching is imperative for studying photocurrents caused by excited dyes. 

We start with a simple reversible redox reaction for which we can directly measure the free energy of reaction, Ar<7, with a galvanic cell. This example helps us introduce the concept of using (standard) reduction potentials for evaluating the energetics (i.e., the free energies) of redox processes. Let us consider the reversible interconversion of 1,4-benzoquinone (BQ) and hydroquinone (HQ) (reaction 14-5 in Table 14.1). We perform this reaction at the surface of an inert electrode (e.g.,... 

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