Oxidants near electrode surface

In acidic media, the reactivity of ethanol on Au electrodes is much lower than in alkaline media. The main product of the oxidation of ethanol on Au in an acidic electrolyte was found to be acetaldehyde, with small amounts of acetic acid [Tremiliosi-FiUio et al., 1998]. The different reactivities and the product distributions in different media were explained by considering the interactions between the active sites on Au, ethanol, and active oxygen species absorbed on or near the electrode surface. In acidic media, surface hydroxide concentrations are low, leading to relatively slow dehydrogenation of ethanol to form acetaldehyde as the main oxidation pathway. In contrast, in alkaline media, ethanol, adsorbed as an ethoxy species, reacts with a surface hydroxide, forming adsorbed acetate, leading to acetate (acetic acid) as the main reaction product. 

Intermediates generated at an electrode surface may react while still near the electrode. If so, one side of the intermediate may be wholly or partly shielded from attack by other reactants by the electrode itself. Such behavior is particularly common in the electrochemical oxidation of aromatic compounds since, as we have already seen with coumarin, aromatic compounds are generally tightly adsorbed parallel to the electrode surface at potentials positive of the p.z.c. For example, electrochemical oxidation of the stilbenes in alkaline methanol affords a mixture of dl and meso-1,2 dimethoxy-1,2-diphenylethane (1) 10>. It is found that c/s-stilbene affords a mixture of isomers of 1 in which the... 

Back electron transfer takes place from the electrogenerated reduc-tant to the oxidant near the electrode surface. At a sufficient potential difference this annihilation leads to the formation of excited ( ) products which may emit light (eel) or react "photochemical ly" without light (1,16). Redox pairs of limited stability can be investigated by ac electrolysis. The frequency of the ac current must be adjusted to the lifetime of the more labile redox partner. Many organic compounds have been shown to undergo eel (17-19). Much less is known about transition metal complexes despite the fact that they participate in fljjany redox reactions. 

In thf the complexes Ni2 ( u.- j -PhC2R)Cp2 (including R = Ph, C CPh) undergo irreversible oxidation processes near -I-0.7 V (vs SCE, FcH /FcH " -l-O.ll V, FcH/FcH" " -I-0.56 V) which results in the formation of deposits on the electrode surface. The anodic sweep indicates the presence of a reversible reduction near — 1.30 V attributed to a Ni2-centered reduction and the formation of [Ni2(M-7 -PhC2R)Cp2] Further reduction results in decomposition of the complexes, and the liberation of the alkyne or diyne ligand, as evidenced by two characteristic alkyne/diyne reductions at very negative potentials. ... 

The systematic representation of the time dependence of chemical reactions occurring at an electrode surface. These reactions can be analyzed as a succession of events (a) diffusion of reactants within the bulk solution to the more condensed layer of solution near the electrode surface (b) penetration of that layer to achieve adsorption on the electrode s surface (c) electron transfer to (i.e., reduction) or from oxidation) the adsorbed reactant(s) product desorption, penetration of the condensed layer, and diffusion into the bulk solution. 

Direct electrochemical studies of the hydride ion in a liCl—KCl eutectic at 425 °C at an iron electrode have shown that the anion is oxidized near 0.65 V versus Li+/Li in a one-electron process which leads to the formation of dihydrogen with high current efficiency via surface combination of... 

If the anion radical is produced electrochemically in an electrolytic cell, one may then add a chemical oxidant or, alternatively, one may perform an electrochemical oxidation in the same cell. When the latter procedure is employed, emission is often observable near the surface of the electrode. With the proper cell and associated electronics one may perform a controlled-potential reduction followed by a controlled-potential oxidation.2-8-11,13,16,17 Emission is then seen at the onset of the second step. If the potential of the second step is sufficiently oxidative, the cation radical of the compound will be produced either by two-electron oxidation of the anion [eq. (3)] or one-electron oxidation of the compound itself [eq. (4)]. If the electrode potential is again made... 

Regeneration of consumed (i.e., given off an electron to the electrode or, on the contrary, acquired an electron) photoactive substance (sensitizer) in the solution is a very important matter from the practical point of view. As soon as all the near-the-electrode (adsorbed) layer of this substance is oxidized (or reduced) the photoprocess ceases. To obtain a continuous photocurrent, the amount of the initial reactant, sensitizer, near the electrode surface should be renewed. 

While considering trends in further investigations, one has to pay special attention to the effect of electroreflection. So far, this effect has been used to obtain information on the structure of the near-the-surface region of a semiconductor, but the electroreflection method makes it possible, in principle, to study electrode reactions, adsorption, and the properties of thin surface layers. Let us note in this respect an important role of objects with semiconducting properties for electrochemistry and photoelectrochemistry as a whole. Here we mean oxide and other films, polylayers of adsorbed organic substances, and other materials on the surface of metallic electrodes. Anomalies in the electrochemical behavior of such systems are frequently explained by their semiconductor nature. Yet, there is a barrier between electrochemistry and photoelectrochemistry of crystalline semiconductors with electronic conductivity, on the one hand, and electrochemistry of oxide films, which usually are amorphous and have appreciable ionic conductivity, on the other hand. To overcome this barrier is the task of further investigations. 

In the above, we assumed that the surface concentrations, Cqx and CRed, do not depend on the current that flows at the electrode. Then, the reduction current increases exponentially to infinity with the negative shift of the potential, while the oxidation current tends to increase exponentially to infinity with the positive shift of the potential (Fig. 5.3). However, in reality, such infinite increases in current do not occur. For example, when a reduction current flows, Ox at the electrode surface is consumed to generate Red and the surface concentration of Ox becomes lower than that in the bulk of the solution. Then, a concentration gradient is formed near the electrode surface and Ox is transported from the bulk of the solution toward the electrode surface. Inversely, the surface concentration of Red be-... 

In a typical spectroelectrochemical measurement, an optically transparent electrode (OTE) is used and the UV/vis absorption spectrum (or absorbance) of the substance participating in the reaction is measured. Various types of OTE exist, for example (i) a plate (glass, quartz or plastic) coated either with an optically transparent vapor-deposited metal (Pt or Au) film or with an optically transparent conductive tin oxide film (Fig. 5.26), and (ii) a fine micromesh (40-800 wires/cm) of electrically conductive material (Pt or Au). The electrochemical cell may be either a thin-layer cell with a solution-layer thickness of less than 0.2 mm (Fig. 9.2(a)) or a cell with a solution layer of conventional thickness ( 1 cm, Fig. 9.2(b)). The advantage of the thin-layer cell is that the electrolysis is complete within a short time ( 30 s). On the other hand, the cell with conventional solution thickness has the advantage that mass transport in the solution near the electrode surface can be treated mathematically by the theory of semi-infinite linear diffusion. 

As shown in Figure 13.3C, the result of this first electron hop is that a layer of reduced Fc sites is regenerated at the electrode surface. What will happen to these Fc sites Clearly, they will give up their electrons to the electrode, regenerating a layer of Fc+ at the electrode surface (Fig. 13.3D). Note the net result is that we now have two layers of Fc+ sites near the electrode but a lot of Fc sites still in the bulk of the polymer film. What happens next Two more electron hops and another electron transfer will occur to yield three layers of Fc+ sites at the electrode surface (Fig. 13.3E). If we repeat this electron-hop/ electron-transfer process many times, we will ultimately end up with a completely oxidized film (Fig. 13.3F). 

---