Oxidation-reduction electrodes indicators

Two methods are used to measure pH electrometric and chemical indicator (1 7). The most common is electrometric and uses the commercial pH meter with a glass electrode. This procedure is based on the measurement of the difference between the pH of an unknown or test solution and that of a standard solution. The instmment measures the emf developed between the glass electrode and a reference electrode of constant potential. The difference in emf when the electrodes are removed from the standard solution and placed in the test solution is converted to a difference in pH. Electrodes based on metal—metal oxides, eg, antimony—antimony oxide (see Antimony AND ANTIMONY ALLOYS Antimony COMPOUNDS), have also found use as pH sensors (8), especially for industrial appHcations where superior mechanical stabiUty is needed (see Sensors). However, because of the presence of the metallic element, these electrodes suffer from interferences by oxidation—reduction systems in the test solution. 

Oxidation-reduction potential Because of the interest in bacterial corrosion under anaerobic conditions, the oxidation-reduction situation in the soil was suggested as an indication of expected corrosion rates. The work of Starkey and Wight , McVey , and others led to the development and testing of the so-called redox probe. The probe with platinum electrodes and copper sulphate reference cells has been described as difficult to clean. Hence, results are difficult to reproduce. At the present time this procedure does not seem adapted to use in field tests. Of more importance is the fact that the data obtained by the redox method simply indicate anaerobic situations in the soil. Such data would be effective in predicting anaerobic corrosion by sulphate-reducing bacteria, but would fail to give any information regarding other types of corrosion. 

Figure 4-12 Current-potential curve for a platinum electrode in 0.5 M H2S04. Regions of oxide formation (QJ and reduction (Qc) as well as formation, of hydrogen (Hc) and its oxidation (H,) are indicated. (Reproduced with permission from reference 33.)...

Electrochemical oxidation-reduction of eluting mixture components is the basis for amperometric electrochemical detectors. The three electrodes needed for the detection, the working (indicator) electrode, reference electrode, and auxiliary electrode, are either inserted into the flow stream or imbedded in the wall of the flow stream. See Figure 13.13. The indicator electrode is typically glassy carbon, platinum, or gold, the reference electrode a silver-silver chloride electrode, and the auxiliary a stainless steel electrode. Most often, the indicator electrode is polarized to cause oxidation of the mixture components... 

In addition, potentiometric titration methods exist in which an electrode other than an ion-selective electrode is used. A simple platinum wire surface can be used as the indicator electrode when an oxidation-reduction reaction occurs in the titration vessel. An example is the reaction of Ce(IV) with Fe(II) ... 

The electron activity (or intensity) at redox equilibrium may be measured by a potentiometer. A pH meter or a millivolt meter may be used for measuring the potential difference between a reference electrode (such as a calomel electrode) and an oxidation-reduction indicator electrode (such as platinum, gold, or a wax-impregnated graphite electrode). 

Because any two oxidation-reduction reactions can be combined to make a cell, the tabulation of standard electrode potentials becomes a very efficient way of calculating cell potentials under standard conditions. As indicated by Eq. (54), if the electrode reactions involve the metals of the cell terminals, the metal-metal potential due to the cell terminals is automatically included in the result. A short table of standard electrode potentials is given in Table 2. 

Because any potentiometric electrode system ultimately must have a redox couple (or an ion-exchange process in the case of membrane electrodes) for a meaningful response, the most common form of potentiometric electrode systems involves oxidation-reduction processes. Hence, to monitor the activity of ferric ion [iron(III)], an excess of ferrous iron [iron(II)] is added such that the concentration of this species remains constant to give a direct Nemstian response for the activity of iron(III). For such redox couples the most common electrode system has been the platinum electrode. This tradition has come about primarily because of the historic belief that the platinum electrode is totally inert and involves only the pure metal as a surface. However, during the past decade it has become evident that platinum electrodes are not as inert as long believed and that their potentiometric response is frequently dependent on the history of the surface and the extent of its activation. The evidence is convincing that platinum electrodes, and in all probability all metal electrodes, are covered with an oxide film that changes its characteristics with time. Nonetheless, the platinum electrode continues to enjoy wide popularity as an inert indicator of redox reactions and of the activities of the ions involved in such reactions. 

The so called oxidation-reduction potential is caused by ions of the same substance being present in the solution in two states of oxidation or valency. These combinations are known under the name of redox-systems and the potentials transmitted by such systems to the indicating, inert electrode (e. g. a platinum one) are called the redox potentials. Tho origin of such a potential can be explained by the tendency of ions of a certain valency state to be converted into a more stable valency state by the exchange of the... 

The method of carrying out oxidation-reduction titrations potentio-metrically is essentially similar to that for precipitation reactions, except that the indicator electrode now consists merely of an inert metal. The determination of the end-point graphically or by some form of differential titration procedure is carried out in a manner exactly analogous to that described in Chap. VII various forms of simplified methods of oxidation-reduction titration have also been described. ... 

Ferroin With the introduction of Ce(IV) as an oxidant and the evaluation of the formal potential of the Ce(rV)-Ce(III) couple, the need for indicators with higher electrode potentials became evident. The indicator ferroin, tris(l,10-phenanthroline)-iron(II), was discovered by Walden, Hammett, and Chapman, and its standard potential was evaluated at 1.14 V. Hume and KolthofiF found that the formal potential was 1.06 V in 1 M hydrochloric or sulfuric acid. The color change, however, occurs at about 1.12 V, because the color of the reduced form (orange-red) is so much more intense than that of the oxidized form (pale blue). From Figure 15-1 it can be seen that ferroin should be ideally suited to titrations of Fe(II) and other reductants with Ce(lV), particularly when sulfuric acid is the titration medium. It has the further advantages of undergoing a reversible oxidation-reduction reaction and of being relatively stable even in the presence of oxidant. 

In oxidation-reduction titrations, an electrode potential related to the concentration ratio between the oxidized and reduced forms of either of the reactants is determined as a function of the titrant volume. The indicator electrode must be responsive to at least one of the couples involved in the reaction. Indicator electrodes for oxidation-reduction titrations are generally constructed from platinum, gold, mercury, or palladium. The metal chosen must be unreactive with respect to the components of the reaction. The indicator metal is merely a medium for electron transfer. 

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