Redox transfer kinetics

Modification of the electrochemical properties of a redox centre surrounded by dendritic fragments [93] can lead to two different dendritic effects. The first one is manifested in a shift of the redox potentials, the extent and direction depending upon the dendritic architecture and the solvent. Such behaviour was observed in dendritic iron-porphyrins [94]. The second effect is apparent in a delay of redox transfer kinetics and is characterised by a stepwise increase in the distance between the peaks in a cyclovoltammogram with increasing dendrimer generation number. 

Influence of the Kinetics of Electron Transfer on the Faradaic Current The rate of mass transport is one factor influencing the current in a voltammetric experiment. The ease with which electrons are transferred between the electrode and the reactants and products in solution also affects the current. When electron transfer kinetics are fast, the redox reaction is at equilibrium, and the concentrations of reactants and products at the electrode are those specified by the Nernst equation. Such systems are considered electrochemically reversible. In other systems, when electron transfer kinetics are sufficiently slow, the concentration of reactants and products at the electrode surface, and thus the current, differ from that predicted by the Nernst equation. In this case the system is electrochemically irreversible. 

S.3.3 Electrocatalytic Modified Electrodes Often the desired redox reaction at the bare electrode involves slow electron-transfer kinetics and therefore occurs at an appreciable rate only at potentials substantially higher than its thermodynamic redox potential. Such reactions can be catalyzed by attaching to the surface a suitable electron transfer mediator (45,46). Knowledge of homogeneous solution kinetics is often used to select the surface-bound catalyst. The function of the mediator is to facilitate the charge transfer between the analyte and the electrode. In most cases the mediated reaction sequence (e.g., for a reduction process) can be described by... 

The oxidation or reduction of a substrate suffering from sluggish electron transfer kinetics at the electrode surface is mediated by a redox system that can exchange electrons rapidly with the electrode and the substrate. The situation is clear when the half-wave potential of the mediator is equal to or more positive than that of the substrate (for oxidations, and vice versa for reductions). The mediated reaction path is favored over direct electrochemistry of the substrate at the electrode because, by the diffusion/reaction layer of the redox mediator, the electron transfer step takes place in a three-dimensional reaction zone rather than at the surface Mediation can also occur when the half-wave potential of the mediator is on the thermodynamically less favorable side, in cases where the redox equilibrium between mediator and substrate is disturbed by an irreversible follow-up reaction of the latter. The requirement of sufficiently fast electron transfer reactions of the mediator is usually fulfilled by such revemible redox couples PjQ in which bond and solvate... 

EPR studies on electron transfer systems where neighboring centers are coupled by spin-spin interactions can yield useful data for analyzing the electron transfer kinetics. In the framework of the Condon approximation, the electron transfer rate constant predicted by electron transfer theories can be expressed as the product of an electronic factor Tab by a nuclear factor that depends explicitly on temperature (258). On the one hand, since iron-sulfur clusters are spatially extended redox centers, the electronic factor strongly depends on how the various sites of the cluster are affected by the variation in the electronic structure between the oxidized and reduced forms. Theoret-... 

In contrast, for cases where the protein is more rigid, the standard continuum approach can give excellent results. A striking example is the case of photosystems and redox proteins, where a low reorganization is needed to maintain fast charge-transfer kinetics. For these systems, carefully parameterized continumm models can give an accurate picture of redox potentials and their coupling to acid/base reactions [126-128],... 

As the immunocomplex structure is generally electroinactive, its coverage on the electrode surface will decrease the double layer capacitance and retard the interfacial electron transfer kinetics of a redox probe present in the electrolyte solution. In this case, Ra can be expressed as the sum of the electron transfer resistance of the bare electrode CRbare) and that of the electrode immobilized with an immunocomplex (R immun) ... 

Consider the fast redox reaction on the electrode surface (i.e., fast heterogeneous charge transfer kinetics) ... 

In biological systems, electron transfer kinetics are determined by many factors of different physical origin. This is especially true in the case of a bimolecular reaction, since the rate expression then involves the formation constant Kf of the transient bimolecular complex as well as the rate of the intracomplex transfer [4]. The elucidation of the factors that influence the value of Kf in redox reactions between two proteins, or between a protein and organic or inorganic complexes, has been the subject of many experimental studies, and some of them are presented in this volume. The complexation step is essential in ensuring specific recognition between physiological partners. However, it is not considered in the present chapter, which deals with the intramolecular or intracomplex steps which are the direct concern of electron transfer theories. 

The effects of complexation of redox particles on the redox reaction kinetics are frequently more evident with semiconductor electrodes than with metal electrodes, since the transfer of electrons takes place at the band edge levels rather than at the Fermi level of electrodes. For example, the anodic transfer of... 

This sensitivity to slow electron transfer kinetics could, however, prove to be an advantage in sensor applications where a mediator, with fast electron transfer kinetics, is used to shuttle electrons to a redox enzyme [82]. Chemical species that are electroactive in the same potential region as the mediator can act as interferants at such sensors. If such an interfering electroactive species shows slow electron transfer kinetics, it might be possible to eliminate this interference at the NEE. This is because at the NEE, the redox wave for the kinetically slow interferant might be unobservable in the region where the kinetically fast mediator is electroactive. We are currently exploring this possibility. 

The STM has also been used to follow the evolution of surface-confined reactions such as the oxidation of adsorbed sulfide to form adsorbed Sg and iodide to polyiodide [275,288,289]. The substrate exerts a strong influence on the dimensions and ordering of the adsorbed molecules, particularly the formation of the first monolayer. In a similar manner, studies of the impact of different adlayer structures on the electron transfer kinetics of various soluble redox species have been initiated [290]. 

The electronic properties of CNTs, and especially their band structure, in terms of DOS, is very important for the interfacial electron transfer between a redox system in solution and the carbon electrode. There should be a correlation between the density of electronic states and electron-transfer reactivity. As expected, the electron-transfer kinetics is faster when there is a high density of electronic states with energy values in the range of donor and acceptor levels in the redox system [2]. Conventional metals (Pt, Au, etc.) have a large DOS in the electrochemical potential... 

Gerischer H (1991) Electron transfer kinetics of redox reactions at semiconductor/electrolyte contact a new approach. J Phys Chem... 

In contrast to the facile reduction of aqueous V(III) (—0.26 V versus NHE) [23, 24], coordination of anionic polydentate ligands decreases the reduction potential dramatically. The reduction of the seven-coordinate capped-octahedral [23] [V(EDTA)(H20)] complex = —1.440 V versus Cp2Fe/H20) has been studied extensively [25,26]. The redox reaction shows moderately slow electron-transfer kinetics, but is independent of pH in the range from 5.0 to 9.0, with no follow-up reactions, a feature that reflects the substitutional inertness of both oxidation states. In the presence of nitrate ion, reduction of [V(EDTA) (H20)] results in electrocatalytic regeneration of this V(III) complex. The mechanism was found to consist of two second-order pathways - a major pathway due to oxidation of V(II) by nitrate, and a minor pathway which is second order in nitrate. This mechanism is different from the comproportionation observed during... 

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