KINETICS OF ACTIVATION POLARIZATION

Electrochemical reaction kinetics is essential in determining the rate of corrosion of a metal M exposed to a corrosive medium (electrolyte). On the other hand, thermodynamics predicts the possibility of corrosion, but it does not provide information on how slow or fast corrosion occurs. The kinetics of a reaction on a electrode surface depends on the electrode potential. Thus, a reaction rate strongly depends on the rate of electron flow to or from a metal-electrolyte interface. If the electrochemical system (electrode and electrolyte) is at equilibrium, then the net rate of reaction is zero. In comparison, reaction rates are governed by chemical kinetics, while corrosion rates are primarily governed by electrochemical kinetics. 

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In spite of its simplicity (or rather because of it), Eq. (4.152) raises several questions. To a good approximation, the kinetics of electrochemical reactions on both sides of the cell follow the Butler-Volmer law, which establishes exponential dependence of cell current on the respective halfcell overpotential. Why then is the resulting polarization curve linear Does this mean that the resistive losses in SOFC dominate and the contribution of activation polarizations to the overall voltage loss is small ... 

Chapter 3 and 4 deal with the kinetics of activation and concentration polarization of electrochemical systems, respectively. The electrochemical reaction kinetics is essential for determining the rate of corrosion (rate of dissolution) of a metal M or an alloy X immersed in a aggressive and destmctive chemical solution, containing positively and negatively charged ions (atoms that have last or gained electrons). 

There are two viewpoints concerning the role of oxygenic anions in the kinetics of active dissolution of iron in acid media in the Tafel range of polarization. 

Flotation reagents are used in the froth flotation process to (/) enhance hydrophobicity, (2) control selectivity, (J) enhance recovery and grade, and (4) affect the velocity (kinetics) of the separation process. These chemicals are classified based on utili2ation collector, frother, auxiUary reagent, or based on reagent chemistry polar, nonpolar, and anionic, cationic, nonionic, and amphoteric. The active groups of the reagent molecules are typically carboxylates, xanthates, sulfates or sulfonates, and ammonium salts. 

Baechler and coworkers204, have also studied the kinetics of the thermal isomerization of allylic sulfoxides and suggested a dissociative free radical mechanism. This process, depicted in equation 58, would account for the positive activation entropy, dramatic rate acceleration upon substitution at the a-allylic position, and relative insensitivity to changes in solvent polarity. Such a homolytic dissociative recombination process is also compatible with a similar study by Kwart and Benko204b employing heavy-atom kinetic isotope effects. 

When concentration changes affect the operation of an electrode while activation polarization is not present (Section 6.3), the electrode is said to operate in the diffusion mode (nnder diffusion control), and the cnrrent is called a diffusion current i. When activation polarization is operative while marked concentration changes are absent (Section 6.2), the electrode is said to operate in the kinetic mode (under kinetic control), and the current is called a reaction or kinetic current i,. When both types of polarization are operative (Section 6.4), the electrode is said to operate in the mixed mode (nnder mixed control). 

The kinetic equations describing the joint effects of activation and concentration polarization are very complex and we shall consider only the the case of a simple first-order reaction of the type (6.2) proceeding in the presence in the solntion of an excess of a foreign electrolyte. To simplify the appearance of these equations (which even in this case are very cnmbersome), in this section we use a more compact notation that contains two new kinetic parameters ... 

Consider the case when the equilibrium concentration of substance Red, and hence its limiting CD due to diffusion from the bulk solution, is low. In this case the reactant species Red can be supplied to the reaction zone only as a result of the chemical step. When the electrochemical step is sufficiently fast and activation polarization is low, the overall behavior of the reaction will be determined precisely by the special features of the chemical step concentration polarization will be observed for the reaction at the electrode, not because of slow diffusion of the substance but because of a slow chemical step. We shall assume that the concentrations of substance A and of the reaction components are high enough so that they will remain practically unchanged when the chemical reaction proceeds. We shall assume, moreover, that reaction (13.37) follows first-order kinetics with respect to Red and A. We shall write Cg for the equilibrium (bulk) concentration of substance Red, and we shall write Cg and c for the surface concentration and the instantaneous concentration (to simplify the equations, we shall not use the subscript red ). 

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