Tafel process

Let be the concentration of hydrogen ions for the standard state of 2H with zero voltage shift. We take our reference state to be the concentration in the membrane when it is fully protonated and = 1. We will assume a sufficiently fast Tafel process, the dissociative adsorption or desorption of hydrogen on the Pt catalyst, such that the coverage fraction does not change. The kinetic reaction will then be driven solely by the Volmer process, whereby an electron exchange occurs on the catalyst surface and + e. The anode and cathode overpotentials are what drive the... 

The measurement of a from the experimental slope of the Tafel equation may help to decide between rate-determining steps in an electrode process. Thus in the reduction water to evolve H2 gas, if the slow step is the reaction of with the metal M to form surface hydrogen atoms, M—H, a is expected to be about If, on the other hand, the slow step is the surface combination of two hydrogen atoms to form H2, a second-order process, then a should be 2 (see Ref. 150). 

Tafel equation Tafel kinetics Tafel slope Taffy process Taft s SV function Tagamet [51481-61-9] d-Tagatose... 

Rechen-schieber, -stab, m. slide rule, -stift, m. slate pencil, -tafel, /. reckoning table multiplication table nomograph, nomogram slate blackboard counting board, -ver-fahren, n. method or process of calculation. 

Fig, 1.24 Tafel lines for a single exchange process. The following should be noted (a) linear f-log I curves are obtained only at overpotentials greater than 0-052 V (at less than 0-052 V E vs. i is linear) b) the extrapolated anodic and cathodic -log / curves intersect at tg the equilibrium exchange current density and (c) /, and the anodic and cathodic current densities... 

The values of h, and b, i.e. The Tafel constants of the anodic and cathodic polarisation curves, first have to be measured directly in the laboratory or deduced by correlating values of AE/Ai measured on the plant with values deduced from corrosion coupons. The criticism is that the K value is likely to be inaccurate and/or to change markedly as conditions in the process stream change, i.e. the introduction of an impurity into a process stream could not only alter i but also the K factor which is used to calculate it. 

Participation in the electrode reactions The electrode reactions of corrosion involve the formation of adsorbed intermediate species with surface metal atoms, e.g. adsorbed hydrogen atoms in the hydrogen evolution reaction adsorbed (FeOH) in the anodic dissolution of iron . The presence of adsorbed inhibitors will interfere with the formation of these adsorbed intermediates, but the electrode processes may then proceed by alternative paths through intermediates containing the inhibitor. In these processes the inhibitor species act in a catalytic manner and remain unchanged. Such participation by the inhibitor is generally characterised by a change in the Tafel slope observed for the process. Studies of the anodic dissolution of iron in the presence of some inhibitors, e.g. halide ions , aniline and its derivatives , the benzoate ion and the furoate ion , have indicated that the adsorbed inhibitor I participates in the reaction, probably in the form of a complex of the type (Fe-/), or (Fe-OH-/), . The dissolution reaction proceeds less readily via the adsorbed inhibitor complexes than via (Fe-OH),js, and so anodic dissolution is inhibited and an increase in Tafel slope is observed for the reaction. 

Attention should be drawn to the signs in equations 20.66 and 20.67 and it should be noted that the Tafel slope b is always positive for an anodic process and negative for a cathodic process and that the constant a is of opposite sign to the slope. 

It has been seen from the above simple examples that the concentration of the substrate has a profound effect on the rate of the electrode process. It must be remembered, however, that the process may show different reaction orders in the different potential regions of the i-E curve. Thus, electron transfer is commonly the slow step in the Tafel region and diffusion control in the plateau region and these processes may have different reaction orders. Even at one potential the reaction order may vary with the substrate concentration as, for example, in the case discussed above where the electrode reaction requires adsorption of the starting material. 

The polarization curves for the oxygen evolution reaction are more complex than those for hydrogen evolution. Usually, several Tafel sections with different slopes are present. At intermediate CD their slope b is very close to 0.12 V, but at low CD it sometimes falls to 0.06 V. At high CD higher slopes are found at potentials above 2.2 V (RHE) new phenomena and processes are possible, which are considered in Section 15.6. 

Equation (6.13), in fact, reflects the physical nature of the electrode process, consisting of the anode (the first term) and cathode (the second term) reactions. At equilibrium potential, E = Eq, the rates of both reactions are equal and the net current is zero, although both anode and cathode currents are nonzero and are equal to the exchange current f. With the variation of the electrode potential, the rate of one of these reactions increases, whereas that of the other decreases. At sufficiently large electrode polarization (i.e., deviation of the electrode potential from Eg), one of these processes dominates (depending on the sign of E - Eg) and the dependence of the net current on the potential is approximately exponential (Tafel equation). 

What is behind the apparent disagreements between Tafel slopes and reaction orders reported from recent investigations of the ORR at PEFC cathode catalysts and the slopes and reaction orders measured earlier for model systems of low Pt surface area Is the ORR process at a dispersed Pt catalyst possibly different in nature from the ORR process at low-surface-area Pt ... 

Is there a way to verify experimentally not only that the measured low Tafel slope of 60mV/decade in the fuel-cell-relevant potential range is fully explainable by an intrinsic slope of 120 mV/decade for ORR at Pt metal, but also that this intrinsic Tafel slope can be experimentally verified within the fuel-cell-relevant potential range In fact, an elegant response to this challenge has recently been provided by impedance spectra measured for the ORR process at Pt/C in a PEFC cathode... 

Using the colloidal Pt(i t ) + RU c/C catalysts described above, the optimal atomic ratio depends upon methanol concentration, cell temperature, and applied potential, as shown by the Tafel plots recorded with methanol concentrations of 1.0 and 0.1 M at T = 298K (Fig. 11.4) and 318K (Fig. 11.5). Some authors have stated that for potentials between 0.35 and 0.6 V vs. RHE, the slow reaction rate between adsorbed CO and adsorbed OH species must be responsible for the rate of the overall process [Iwasita et al., 2000]. From these results, it can be underlined that, at a given constant potential lower than 0.45-0.5 V vs. RHE, an increase in temperature requires an increase in Ru content to enhance the rate of methanol oxidation, and that, at a given constant potential greater than 0.5 V vs. RHE, an increase in temperature requites a decrease in Ru content to enhance the rate of methanol oxidation. 

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