Oxide layers mass transport

Rates and selectivities of soHd catalyzed reactions can also be influenced by mass transport resistance in the external fluid phase. Most reactions are not influenced by external-phase transport, but the rates of some very fast reactions, eg, ammonia oxidation, are deterrnined solely by the resistance to this transport. As the resistance to mass transport within the catalyst pores is larger than that in the external fluid phase, the effectiveness factor of a porous catalyst is expected to be less than unity whenever the external-phase mass transport resistance is significant, A practical catalyst that is used under such circumstances is the ammonia oxidation catalyst. It is a nonporous metal and consists of layers of wire woven into a mesh. 

In the very early stages of oxidation the oxide layer is discontinuous both kinetic and electron microscope" studies have shown that oxidation commences by the lateral extension of discrete oxide nuclei. It is only once these interlace that the direction of mass transport becomes of importance. In the majority of cases the metal then diffuses across the oxide layer in the form of cations and electrons (cationic diffusion), or as with the heavy metal oxides, oxygen may diffuse as ions with a flow of electrons in the reverse direction (anionic diffusion). The number of metals oxidising by both cationic and anionic diffusion is believed to be small, since a favourable energy of activation for one ion generally means an unfavourable value for the other... 

The transient response of DMFC is inherently slower and consequently the performance is worse than that of the hydrogen fuel cell, since the electrochemical oxidation kinetics of methanol are inherently slower due to intermediates formed during methanol oxidation [3]. Since the methanol solution should penetrate a diffusion layer toward the anode catalyst layer for oxidation, it is inevitable for the DMFC to experience the hi mass transport resistance. The carbon dioxide produced as the result of the oxidation reaction of methanol could also partly block the narrow flow path to be more difScult for the methanol to diflhise toward the catalyst. All these resistances and limitations can alter the cell characteristics and the power output when the cell is operated under variable load conditions. Especially when the DMFC stack is considered, the fluid dynamics inside the fuel cell stack is more complicated and so the transient stack performance could be more dependent of the variable load conditions. 

The effect of fluoride ions on the electrochemical behaviour of a metal zirconium electrode was studied by Pihlar and Cencic in order to develop a sensor for the determination of zirconium ion. Because elemental zirconium is always covered by an oxide layer, the anodic characteristics of a Zr/Zr02 electrode are closely related to the composition of the electrolyte in contact with it. These authors found the fluoride concentration and anodic current density to be proportional in hydrochloric and perchloric acid solutions only. In other electrolytes, the fluoride ion-induced dissolution of elemental zirconium led to an increase in the ZrOj film thickness and hindered mass transport of fluoride through the oxide layer as a result. The... 

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. 

An example of the concentration profiles of the oxidized species O, calculated for different times and corresponding to the application of a constant potential under linear diffusion conditions, is shown in Fig. 1.20. The electrode reaction at the interface leads to the depletion of species O at the solution region adjacent to the electrode surface. As the time increases, the layer in the solution affected by the diffusive mass transport becomes thicker, which indicates that linear diffusion is unable to restore the initial situation (for a more detailed discussion on concentration profiles and their relation with the current, see Sects. 2.2.1 and 2.2.2). 

Figure 7 Schematic of the primary steps involved in dehalogenation of RX at Fe°-oxide-H20 interface. Coarse dashed arrows represent mass transport between the bulk solution and the particle surface, fine dashed arrows denote diffusion across the stagnant boundary layer and surface complexation, and solid arrows show electron transfer and bond rearrangement on the surface. (Adapted from Ref. 147.)...

FIGURE 11.6 Schematic of mass transport in a conductive oxide protection layer on achromia-forming alloy. 

In situ STM studies of the oxidation of a Pd film in the SMSI state at elevated temperature show a thickening of the encapsulating film (Fig. 8.7a-c). The film prior to oxidation had a hexagonal pin-wheel structure on the raised triangular island on the Pd film. After oxidation (Fig. 8.7c), the island was decorated heavily with a thickened, rough layer of Ti implying the formation of an oxide film of higher stoichiometry (possibly TP+), or mass transport of Ti to the Pd surface from the Ti surface. 

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