Heterogeneous electron transfer kinetic aspects

With respect to the heterogeneous electron-transfer process, reversible (nemstian) systems are always at equilibrium. The kinetics are so facile that the interface is governed solely by thermodynamic aspects. Not surprisingly, then, the shapes and positions of reversible waves, which reflect the energy dependence of the electrode reaction, can be exploited to provide thermodynamic properties, such as standard potentials, free energies of reaction, and various equilibrium constants, just as potentiometric measurements can be. On the other hand, reversible systems can offer no kinetic information, because the kinetics are, in effect, transparent. 

Cyclic voltammetry (CV) is a potential-controlled reversal electrochemical experiment. A cyclic potential sweep is imposed on an electrode and the current response is observed. Analysis of the current response can give information about the thermodynamics and kinetics of electron transfer at the electrodesolution interface, as well as the kinetics and mechanisms of solution chemical reactions initiated by the heterogeneous electron transfer. This chapter examines fundamental experimental and theoretical aspects of the CV expjeriment (Figure 2-1). 

Photoinduced ET at liquid-liquid interfaces has been widely recognized as a model system for natural photosynthesis and heterogeneous photocatalysis [114-119]. One of the key aspects of photochemical reactions in these systems is that the efficiency of product separation can be enhanced by differences in solvation energy, diminishing the probability of a back electron-transfer process (see Fig. 11). For instance, Brugger and Gratzel reported that the efficiency of the photoreduction of the amphiphilic methyl viologen by Ru(bpy)3+ is effectively enhanced in the presence of cationic micelles formed by cetyltrimethylammonium chloride [120]. Flash photolysis studies indicated that while the kinetics of the photoinduced reaction,... 

The mechanism and theory of bioelectrocatalysis is still under development. Electron transfer and variation of potential in the electrodeenzyme-electrolyte system has therefore to be investigated. Whether the enzyme is soluble and the electron transfer process occurs through a mediator, or whether there is direct enzyme immobilization on the electrode surface, the homogeneous process in the enzyme active centre has to be described by the laws of enzyme catalysis, and the heterogeneous processes on the electrode surface by the laws of electrochemical kinetics. Besides this there are other aspects outside electrochemistry or... 

In the second chapter, Appleby presents a detailed discussion and review in modem terms of a central aspect of electrochemistry Electron Transfer Reactions With and Without Ion Transfer. Electron transfer is the most fundamental aspect of most processes at electrode interfaces and is also involved intimately with the homogeneous chemistry of redox reactions in solutions. The subject has experienced controversial discussions of the role of solvational interactions in the processes of electron transfer at electrodes and in solution, especially in relation to the role of Inner-sphere versus Outer-sphere activation effects in the act of electron transfer. The author distils out the essential features of electron transfer processes in a tour de force treatment of all aspects of this important field in terms of models of the solvent (continuum and molecular), and of the activation process in the kinetics of electron transfer reactions, especially with respect to the applicability of the Franck-Condon principle to the time-scales of electron transfer and solvational excitation. Sections specially devoted to hydration of the proton and its heterogeneous transfer, coupled with... 

In this paper I will discuss quantitative aspects of the electron-transfer equilibria, both homogeneous and heterogeneous, the fate of the monomeric radical-anions, and the methods leading to the desired thermodynamic and kinetic data. Since flash-photolysis was extensively used in our work, a few words about its basic feature are in place. A detailed description of its usage in our systems is given elsewhere (2). 

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