Oxidation-reduction electrodes potentiometric

Figure R.2 Experimental arrangement for measuring the electrode potential of an oxidation-reduction electrode during potentiometric titration...

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 first electrochemical studies of Mb were reported for the horse heart protein in 1942 (94) and subsequently for sperm whale Mb (e.g., 95) through use of potentiometric titrations employing a mediator to achieve efficient equilibriation of the protein with the electrode (96). More recently, spectroelectrochemical measurements have also been employed (97, 98). The alternative methods of direct electrochemistry (99-102) that are used widely for other heme proteins (e.g., cytochrome c, cytochrome bs) have not been as readily applied to the study of myoglobin because coupling the oxidation-reduction eqiulibrium of this protein to a modified working electrode surface has been more difficult to achieve. As a result, most published electrochemical studies of wild-type and variant myoglobins have involved measurements at eqiulibrium rather than dynamic techniques. 

When a biochemical half-reaction involves the production or consumption of hydrogen ions, the electrode potential depends on the pH. When reactants are weak acids or bases, the pH dependence may be complicated, but this dependence can be calculated if the pKs of both the oxidized and reduced reactants are known. Standard apparent reduction potentials E ° have been determined for a number of oxidation-reduction reactions of biochemical interest at various pH values, but the E ° values for many more biochemical reactions can be calculated from ArG ° values of reactants from the measured apparent equilibrium constants K. Some biochemical redox reactions can be studied potentiometrically, but often reversibility cannot be obtained. Therefore a great deal of the information on reduction potentials in this chapter has come from measurements of apparent equilibrium constants. 

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. 

Although all potentiometric measurements (except those involving membrane electrodes) ultimately are based on a redox couple, the method can be applied to oxidation-reduction processes, acid-base processes, precipitation processes, and metal ion complexation processes. Measurements that involve a component of a redox couple require that either the oxidized or reduced conjugate of the species to be measured be maintained at a constant and known activity at the electrode. If the goal is to measure the activity of silver ion in a solution, then a silver wire coupled to the appropriate reference electrodes makes an ideal potentiometric system. Likewise, if the goal is to monitor iron(UI) concentrations with a platinum electrode, a known concentration of... 

The electrochemical analyzers are another important family of liquid analyzers. They include potentiometric, wherein an electric potential is measured and the solution remains unchanged conductive, in which a minute current is measured but the system is essentially unchanged and amperometric, in which a chemical reaction occurs during the course of the measurement. Potentiometric analyzers can measure the presence of dissolved ionized solids in a solution. These measurements include pH, oxidation-reduction potential (ORP), and ion-selective electrodes (ISEs) or probes. 

High-temperature stabilized NO-, zirconia potentiometric sensors are also being utilized [187], The electrochemical reactions on zirconia devices take place at the triple-phase boundary, that is, the junction between the electrode, electrolyte, and gas [186], It has been reported that sensors composed of a W03 electrode, yttria-stabilized zirconia electrolyte, and Pt-loaded zeolite filters demonstrate high sensitivity toward NO,, and are free from interferences from CO, propane, and ammonia, and are subject to minimal interferences from humidity and oxygen, at levels typically present in combustion environments [188], In this sensor, a steady-state potential arises when the oxidation-reduction reaction [186,188]... 

While the redox titration method is potentiometric, the spectroelectrochemistry method is potentiostatic [99]. In this method, the protein solution is introduced into an optically transparent thin layer electrochemical cell. The potential of the transparent electrode is held constant until the ratio of the oxidized to reduced forms of the protein attains equilibrium, according to the Nemst equation. The oxidation-reduction state of the protein is determined by directly measuring the spectra through the tranparent electrode. In this method, as in the redox titration method, the spectral characterization of redox species is required. A series of potentials are sequentially potentiostated so that different oxidized/reduced ratios are obtained. The data is then adjusted to the Nemst equation in order to calculate the standard redox potential of the proteic species. Errors in redox potentials estimated with this method may be in the order of 3 mV. 

Reactions that take place consecutive to the electrode process can be studied polarographioally only in those cases in which the electrode process is reversible. In these cases the wave-heights and the wave-shape remain unaffected by the chemical processes. However, the half-wave potentials are shifted relative to the equilibrium oxidation-reduction potential, determined e.g. potentiometrically. Hence, whereas in all above examples, limiting currents were measured to determine the rate constant, it is the shifts of half-wave potentials which are measured here. First- and second-order chemical reactions will be discussed in the following. 

The silver-silver chloride electrode is an example of a metal electrode that participates as a member of a redox couple. The silver-silver chloride electrode consists of a silver wire or rod coated with AgCl(s) that is immersed in a chloride solution of constant activity this sets the half-cell potential. The Ag/AgCl electrode is itself considered a potentiometric electrode, as its phase boundary potential is governed by an oxidation-reduction electron transfer equilibrium reaction that occurs at the surface of the silver ... 

Part IV is devoted to electrochemical methods. After an introduction to electrochemistry in Chapter 18, Chapter 19 describes the many uses of electrode potentials. Oxidation/reduction titrations are the subject of Chapter 20, while Chapter 21 presents the use of potentiometric methods to obtain concentrations of molecular and ionic species. Chapter 22 considers the bulk electrolytic methods of electrogravimetry and coulometry, while Chapter 23 discusses voltammetric methods including linear sweep and cyclic voltammetry, anodic stripping voltammetry, and polarography. 

The potentiometric technique involves the use of glass, ISE and platinum electrodes, the latter used in connection with nearly all oxidation-reduction titrations. These electrodes use external or internal reference electrodes. In the main, the reference is an Ag/AgCl (3M KCl) unit with an outer compartment capable of being filled with an electrolyte of choice and changeable. For chloride titrations, for example, the indicator electrode is often a silver billet coated with AgCl, with a Ag/AgCl reference 3M KNO3 filled. 

Electrochemistry works using the principles of oxidation-reduction reactions which generate electric currents or, more simply, the conversion of chemical information into an electrical signal. Electrochemical cells or sensors usually contain a working electrode, to which a potential is applied, and a reference electrode. The oxidation-reduction reaction that ensues is then recorded as an electric current which is a measurement of the analyte from the reaction. Electrochemical methods can be further subdivided into amperometric (measures current), potentiometric (measures potential), conductometric (measures the conductive properties of the medium), impedimetric (measures resistance and reactance) or field effect (measures current through charge accumulation at a gate electrode). ... 

In measurements of conductivity, no electrochemical reactions occur. Differences in conductivity are due to differences in the ionic strengths of solutions. An alternating potential is applied to the solution at a known potential. The current is measured and the conductivity in Siemens/cm calculated.16 In potentiometry, the analyte is presumed to undergo no electrochemical reaction. The potential at the electrode changes due to changes in potential across the surface of the membrane in a membrane electrode or at the electrode surface of a solid electrode. The most familiar example of a potentiometric electrode is the pH electrode. In amperometry, current does flow, due to reduction or oxidation of the substance being analyzed. 

In the first group the titrant is generated either directly from a participating or active electrode, or indirectly from an inert or passive electrode, in which case it is necessary to add previously an auxiliary substance that generates the titrant by either cathodic reduction or anodic oxidation the end-point detection is usually potentiometric or amperometric. The following selected examples are illustrative of the first group in non-aqueous media ... 

Potentiometric stripping analysis (PSA) is another attractive version of stripping analysis [7]. The preconcentration step in PSA is the same as for ASV that is, the metal is electrolytically deposited (via reduction) onto the mercury electrode (usually a film). The stripping, however, is done by chemical oxidation, for example, with oxygen or mercuric ions present in the solution ... 

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