Electron-transfer reactions interface

Among the dynamical properties the ones most frequently studied are the lateral diffusion coefficient for water motion parallel to the interface, re-orientational motion near the interface, and the residence time of water molecules near the interface. Occasionally the single particle dynamics is further analyzed on the basis of the spectral densities of motion. Benjamin studied the dynamics of ion transfer across liquid/liquid interfaces and calculated the parameters of a kinetic model for these processes [10]. Reaction rate constants for electron transfer reactions were also derived for electron transfer reactions [11-19]. More recently, systematic studies were performed concerning water and ion transport through cylindrical pores [20-24] and water mobility in disordered polymers [25,26]. 

Controlled-potential (potentiostatic) techniques deal with the study of charge-transfer processes at the electrode-solution interface, and are based on dynamic (no zero current) situations. Here, the electrode potential is being used to derive an electron-transfer reaction and the resultant current is measured. The role of the potential is analogous to that of the wavelength in optical measurements. Such a controllable parameter can be viewed as electron pressure, which forces the chemical species to gain or lose an electron (reduction or oxidation, respectively). 

Lewis NS (1998) Progress in understanding electron-transfer reactions at semiconduc-tor/hquid interfaces. JPhys Chem B 102 4843-4855... 

Michael Faraday first studied electron transfer reactions at oil-water interfaces to prepare colloidal metals by reducing metal salts at the ether-water or carbon disulfide-water interfaces. As the field progressed after Faraday s pioneering observations, it... 

Electron transfer reactions constitute an ubiquitous class of chemical reactions. This is particularly true in biological systems where these reactions often occur at interfaces, in photosynthesis for instance. It is therefore challenging to use the surface specificity and the time resolution of the SHG technique to investigate these processes. At liquid-liquid interfaces, these processes are mimicked through the following scheme ... 

Electron-transfer reactions at liquid-liquid interfaces have the form ... 

Dynamic Aspects of Heterogeneous Electron-Transfer Reactions at Liquid-Liquid Interfaces... 

A. Electron-Transfer Reactions at Externally Polarized interfaces... 

In this chapter, a novel interpretation of the membrane transport process elucidated based on a voltammetric concept and method is presented, and the important role of charge transfer reactions at aqueous-membrane interfaces in the membrane transport is emphasized [10,17,18]. Then, three respiration mimetic charge (ion or electron) transfer reactions observed by the present authors at the interface between an aqueous solution and an organic solution in the absence of any enzymes or proteins are introduced, and selective ion transfer reactions coupled with the electron transfer reactions are discussed [19-23]. The reaction processes of the charge transfer reactions and the energetic relations... 

As mentioned above, the distribution of the various species in the two adjacent phases changes during a potential sweep which induces the transfer of an ion I across the interface when the potential approaches its standard transfer potential. This flux of charges across the interface leads to a measurable current which is recorded as a function of the applied potential. Such curves are called voltammograms and a typical example for the transfer of pilocarpine [229] is shown in Fig. 6, illustrating that cyclic voltammograms produced by reversible ion transfer reactions are similar to those obtained for electron transfer reactions at a metal-electrolyte solution interface. 

Nanotechnology has provided a novel way to enhance the electron-transfer rates between Hb and the electrode. As in the case of cyt c and Mb, nanocrystalline Ti02 film has been proposed to be a promising interface for the immobilization of Hb. GNPs are renowned for their good biocompatibility. With the help of these GNPs, Hb can exhibit a direct electron-transfer reaction without being denatured. To improve the... 

Both ion and electron transfer reactions entail the transfer of charge through the interface, which can be measured as the electric current. If only one charge transfer reaction takes place in the system, its rate is directly proportional to the current density, i.e. the current per unit area. This makes it possible to measure the rates of electrochemical reactions with greater ease and precision than the rates of chemical reactions occurring in the bulk of a phase. On the other hand, electrochemical reactions are usually quite sensitive to the state of the electrode surface. Impurities have an unfortunate tendency to aggregate at the interface. Therefore electrochemical studies require extremely pure system components. 

Electron-transfer reactions are the simplest class of electrochemical reactions. They play a special role in that every electrochemical reaction involves at least one electron-transfer step. This is even true if the current across the electrochemical interface is carried by ions since, depending on the direction of the current, the ions must either be generated or discharged by an exchange of electrons with the surroundings. 

Electron-transfer reactions at liquid-liquid interfaces involve redox couples on each side of the interface. The basic scheme is (see Fig. 12.5) ... 

Electron-transfer reactions at ITIES resemble electron-transfer reactions across biological membranes, which adds a special interest. Also, in contrast to homogeneous electron-transfer reactions, they allow a separation of the reaction products. So it is disappointing to report that only very few experimental investigations of electron-transfer reactions at ITIES have been performed. This is mainly due to the fact that it is difficult to find systems where the reactants do not cross the interface after the reaction in addition, side reactions with the supporting electrolyte can be a problem. 

In a number of cases ITIES can be used to separate the products of a photoinduced electron-transfer reaction. An early example is the work by Willner et al. [7] at the water/toluene interface, who studied the photooxidation of [Ru(bpy)3]2+ in the aqueous phase. The excited state was quenched by hexadecyl- 4,4 bipyridinium, which becomes hydrophobic on reduction and crosses to the toluene phase. There are other examples and mechanisms at the present time their main interest resides in their chemistry, and in the separation of products that can be achieved at the interface. 

The thermodynamic feasibility of redox reactions at the semiconductor-electrolyte interface can be assessed from thermodynamic considerations. Since typical redox potentials for many redox couples encountered in electrolytes of natural or technical systems often lie between the band potentials of typical semiconductors, many electron transfer reactions are (thermodynamically) feasible (Pichat and Fox, 1988). With the right choice of semiconductor material and pH the redox potential of the cb can be varied from 0.5 to 1.5 V and that of the vb from 1 to more than 3.5 V (see Fig. 10.4). 

This book deals only with the chemistry of the mineral-water interface, and so at first glance, the book might appear to have a relatively narrow focus. However, the range of chemical and physical processes considered is actually quite broad, and the general and comprehensive nature of the topics makes this volume unique. The technical papers are organized into physical properties of the mineral-water interface adsorption ion exchange surface spectroscopy dissolution, precipitation, and solid solution formation and transformation reactions at the mineral-water interface. The introductory chapter presents an overview of recent research advances in each of these six areas and discusses important features of each technical paper. Several papers address the complex ways in which some processes are interrelated, for example, the effect of adsorption reactions on the catalysis of electron transfer reactions by mineral surfaces. 

Electron transfer reactions of metal ion complexes in homogeneous solution are understood in considerable detail, in part because spectroscopic methods and other techniques can be used to monitor reactant, intermediate, and product concentrations. Unfavorable characteristics of oxide/water interfaces often restrict or complicate the application of these techniques as a result, fewer direct measurements have been made at oxide/water interfaces. Available evidence indicates that metal ion complexes and metal oxide surface sites share many chemical characteristics, but differ in several important respects. These similarities and differences are used in the following discussions to construct a molecular description of reductive dissolution reactions. 

Most theoretical studies of outer-sphere (nonbond-breaking) electron transfer reactions at the metal-solution interface involve major simplifying assumptions regarding the molecular and electronic structure of the solvents and the metal. Although the importance of molecular structure and the dynamics of the solvent has been recognized, most of the theoretical work in this area has been based on a highly simplified continuum model. ... 

Rose and Benjamin (see also Halley and Hautman ) utilized molecular dynamic simulations to compute the free energy function for an electron transfer reaction, Fe (aq) + e Fe (aq) at an electrodesolution interface. In this treatment, Fe (aq) in water is considered to be fixed next to a metal electrode. In this tight-binding approximation, the electron transfer is viewed as a transition between two states, Y yand Pf. In Pj, the electron is at the Fermi level of the metal and the water is in equilibrium with the Fe ion. In Pf, the electron is localized on the ion, and the water is in equilibrium with the Fe" ions. The initial state Hamiltonian H, is expressed as... 

Most of the new molecular-level results concern the structure and dynamics of water at interfaces. We begin this review with a brief summary of this area. Several recent review articles and books can be consulted for additional information. " We then examine in some detail the new insight gained from molecular dynamic simulations of the structure of the electric double layer and the general behavior of ions at the water/metal interface. We conclude by examining recent developments in the modeling of electron transfer reactions. 

Despite the fact that electron transfer reactions at the electrode/electrolyte interface are of fundamental importance to many chemical processes, a quantitative understanding of the factors that influence the rate of these reactions is still lacking. Although the general theoretical framework was established many years ago by Marcus, Levich, Dogonadze, and oth-... 

The theoretical modeling of electron transfer reactions at the solution/metal interface is challenging because, in addition to the difficulties associated with the quantitative treatment of the water/metal surface and of the electric double layer discussed earlier, one now needs to consider the interactions of the electron with the metal surface and the solvated ions. Most theoretical treatments have focused on electron-metal coupling, while representing the solvent using the continuum dielectric media. In keeping with the scope of this review, we limit our discussion to subjects that have been adi essed in recent years using molecular dynamics computer simulations. 

Figure 11. Solvent free energies for the electron transfer reaction Fe + e <- Fe in bulk water (top panel) and at the water/Pt(100) interface (bottom panel) at T = 300 K. In each panel, the solid line gives the results of umbrella sampling molecular dynamics, and the thin line is the best parabolic fit to the bottom region of each curve. (Adapted from Ref. 163.)...

Following the early studies on the pure interface, chemical and electrochemical processes at the interface between two immiscible liquids have been studied using the molecular dynamics method. The most important processes for electrochemical research involve charge transfer reactions. Molecular dynamics computer simulations have been used to study the rate and the mechanism of ion transfer across the water/1,2-dichloroethane interface and of ion transfer across a simple model of a liquid/liquid interface, where a direct comparison of the rate with the prediction of simple diffusion models has been made. ° ° Charge transfer of several types has also been studied, including the calculations of free energy curves for electron transfer reactions at a model liquid/liquid... 

Fig. 8-8. Energy levels for redox electron transfer reaction at a metal electrode (a) in equilibrium, (b) in anodic polarization with reao tion rate determined by interfadal electron transfer, (c) anodic polarization with reaction rate determined by both interfadal electron transfer and diffusion of hydrated partides. EF0)Eooxj.a= Fenni level of redox electrons at an interface.

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