Oxygen reduction reaction transfer coefficient

In the context of the present discussion, it is worth noting that virtually all the experimental systems that exhibit such "anomalous temperature-dependent transfer coefficients are multistep inner-sphere processes, such as proton and oxygen reduction in aqueous media [84]. It is therefore extremely difficult to extract the theoretically relevant "true transfer coefficient for the electron-transfer step, ocet [eqn. (6)], from the observed value [eqn. (2)] besides a knowledge of the reaction mechanism, this requires information on the potential-dependent work terms for the precursor and successor state [eqn. (7b)]. Therefore the observed behavior may be accountable partly in terms of work terms that have large potential-dependent entropic components. Examinations of temperature-dependent transfer coefficients for one-electron outer-sphere reactions are unfortunately quite limited. However, most systems examined (transition-metal redox couples [2c], some post-transition metal reductions [85], and nitrobenzene reduction in non-aqueous media [86]) yield essentially temperature-independent transfer coefficients, and hence potential-independent AS orr values, within the uncertainty of the double-layer corrections. 

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