Salt Bridge Systems

With any endpoint detection system several practical considerations are important for reliable results. For example, the indicator electrode should be placed in close proximity to the flow pattern from the burette, so that a degree of anticipation is provided to avoid overrunning the endpoint. Another important factor is that the indicator electrode be as inert and nonreactive as possible to avoid contamination and erratic response from attack by the titration solution. A third and frequently overlooked consideration is the makeup of the reference electrode and, in particular, its salt bridge. For example, a salt-bridge system that contains potassium chloride can cause extremely erratic behavior of any electrochemical system if the titrant solution contains perchlorate ion (because of the precipitation of potassium perchlorate at the salt-bridge titrant-solution interface). Likewise, a potassium chloride salt bridge in a potentiometric titra-... 

An interesting non-cofacial salt-bridged system with an association constant of 2600 500 M" involving pentapyrrolic macrocycles sapphyrin was reported [640]. The singlet energy transfer was well explained by the Forster mechanism (24). 

In addition, the temperature dependence of the diffusion potentials and the temperature dependence of the reference electrode potential itself must be considered. Also, the temperature dependence of the solubility of metal salts is important in Eq. (2-29). For these reasons reference electrodes with constant salt concentration are sometimes preferred to those with saturated solutions. For practical reasons, reference electrodes are often situated outside the system under investigation at room temperature and connected with the medium via a salt bridge in which pressure and temperature differences can be neglected. This is the case for all data on potentials given in this handbook unless otherwise stated. 

Reference electrodes for non-aqueous solvents are always troublesome because the necessary salt bridge may add considerable errors by undefined junction potentials. Leakage of components of the reference compartment, water in particular, into the working electrode compartment is a further problem. Whenever electrochemical cells of very small dimensions have to be designed, the construction of a suitable reference electrode system may be very difficult. Thus, an ideal reference electrode would be a simple wire introduced into the test cell. The usefulness of redox modified electrodes as reference electrodes in this respect has been studied in some detail... 

The liquid junction potential from the organic side may be negligible, owing to the use of a nitrobenzene-water partition system containing tetraethylammonium picrate as the salt bridge. The mobilities of both ions in nitrobenzene are similar, and they have similar Gibbs energies of... 

Another proposed procedure of finding the ionic data is the application of a special salt bridge, which provides practically constant or negligible liquid junction potentials. The water-nitrobenzene system, containing tetraethylammonium picrate (TEAPi) in the partition equilibrium state, has been proposed as a convenient liquid junction bridge for the liquid voltaic and galvanic cells. 

Thus, the Volta potential may be operationally defined as the compensating voltage of the cell of Scheme 16. However, it should be stressed that the compensating voltage of a voltaic cell is not always the direct measure of the Volta potential. The appropriate mutual arrangement of phases, as well as application of reversible electrodes or salt bridges in the systems, allows measurement of not only the Volta potential but also the surface and the Galvani potentials. These possibilities are schematically illustrated by [15]... 

In addition to their use as reference electrodes in routine potentiometric measurements, electrodes of the second kind with a saturated KC1 (or, in some cases, with sodium chloride or, preferentially, formate) solution as electrolyte have important applications as potential probes. If an electric current passes through the electrolyte solution or the two electrolyte solutions are separated by an electrochemical membrane (see Section 6.1), then it becomes important to determine the electrical potential difference between two points in the solution (e.g. between the solution on both sides of the membrane). Two silver chloride or saturated calomel electrodes are placed in the test system so that the tips of the liquid bridges lie at the required points in the system. The value of the electrical potential difference between the two points is equal to that between the two probes. Similar potential probes on a microscale are used in electrophysiology (the tips of the salt bridges are usually several micrometres in size). They are termed micropipettes (Fig. 3.8D.)... 

Henderson or Plank formalisms. Mobilities for several ions can be seen in Table 18a. 1. Liquid junction potentials can become more problematic with voltammetric or amperometric measurements. For example, the redox potentials of a given analyte measured in different solvent systems cannot be directly compared, since the liquid junction potential will be different for each solvent system. However, the junction potential Ej can be constant and reproducible. It can also be very small (about 2-3 mV) if the anion and cation of the salt bridge have similar mobilities. As a result, for most practical measurements the liquid junction potential can be neglected [9]. 

Electroanalytical techniques are an extension of classical oxidation-reduction chemistry, and indeed oxidation and reduction processes occur at the surface of or within the two electrodes, oxidation at one and reduction at the other. Electrons are consumed by the reduction process at one electrode and generated by the oxidation process at the other. The electrode at which oxidation occurs is termed the anode. The electrode at which reduction occurs is termed the cathode. The complete system, with the anode connected to the cathode via an external conductor, is often called a cell. The individual oxidation and reduction reactions are called half-reactions. The individual electrodes with their half-reactions are called half-cells. As we shall see in this chapter, the half-cells are often in separate containers (mostly to prevent contamination) and are themselves often referred to as electrodes because they are housed in portable glass or plastic tubes. In any case, there must be contact between the half-cells to facilitate ionic diffusion. This contact is called the salt bridge and may take the form of an inverted U-shaped tube filled with an electrolyte solution, as shown in Figure 14.2, or, in most cases, a small fibrous plug at the tip of the portable unit, as we will see later in this chapter. 

First, we must recognize that all ionic diffusional changes involve both ends of the salt bridge. Secondly, because the electrolyte in the bridge is gel-like (usually), ionic motion into, through arul from the bridge is quite slow because the viscous nature of the gel will minimize ionic diffusion. Retardation of the ionic motion will itself enable the system to settle quickly to a reproducible state. As all ionic motion is slowed, the differences in diffusion rate are themselves minimized. 

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