The EMF of galvanic cells

Electrode potentials (as well as values of the EMF of galvanic cells) depend on the composition of the electrolyte and other phases of variable composition. The electrode potential corresponds to the Galvani potential of the electrode-electrolyte interface, up to a constant term f =(Po + const. Introducing the concendation dependence of the chemical potential p into Eq. (3.21), we find that... 

Potentiometry is used in the determination of various physicochemical quantities and for quantitative analysis based on measurements of the EMF of galvanic cells. By means of the potentiometric method it is possible to determine activity coefficients, pH values, dissociation constants and solubility products, the standard affinities of chemical reactions, in simple cases transport numbers, etc. In analytical chemistry, potentiometry is used for titrations or for direct determination of ion activities. 

The negative logarithm of hydrogen ion concentration was defined by Sorensen S as the pH.t Sorensen did not actually measure hydrogen ion concentrations, but something more nearly related to activities. He measured the emf of galvanic cells such as... 

Measurements of the emf of galvanic cells can be used to advantage to extract thermodynamic information concerning the characteristics of chemical reactions. As already stated, corresponding to the symbolic chemical reaction one may specify an equilibrium parameter Kx = Oy If cell can... 

Direct measurements of solute activity are based on studies of the equilibria in which a given substance is involved. The parameters of these equilibria (the distribution coefficients, equilibrium constants, and EMF of galvanic cells) are determined at different concentrations. Then these data are extrapolated to very low concentrations, where the activity coincides with concentration and the activity coefficient becomes unity. 

Thus, through the example of the galvanic (Cu-Zn) cell, it has been shown that the emf of a cell is equal to the difference between the electrode potentials of the electrodes of which it is constructed. It may be recounted here that the thermodynamic text presented here sup-... 

So far, a cell containing a single electrolyte solution has been considered (a galvanic cell without transport). When the two electrodes of the cell are immersed into different electrolyte solutions in the same solvent, separated by a liquid junction (see Section 2.5.3), this system is termed a galvanic cell with transport. The relationship for the EMF of this type of a cell is based on a balance of the Galvani potential differences. This approach yields a result similar to that obtained in the calculation of the EMF of a cell without transport, plus the liquid junction potential value A0L. Thus Eq. (3.1.66) assumes the form... 

The EMF of a galvanic cell is a thermodynamic equilibrium quatity. Thus, the potential of a cell must be measured under equilibrium conditions, i.e. without current flow. The measured EMF must be compensated by a known external potential difference. The measurement of the EMF of a cell is thus based on determination of a potential difference that exactly compensates the measured potential difference so that no current passes. This is easily achieved by the Poggendorf compensation method (see Fig. 3.13). 

E = EMF, or Electromotive Force, or Cell Potential (In the context of galvanic cells) also see below... 

In order to decide the suitability of a certain melt in technical practice, an in-depth knowledge of its physico-chemical properties is unavoidable. The present database of the properties of inorganic melts is relatively broad. Many properties are known, such as phase equilibria, enthalpies of fusion, heat capacities, density, electrical conductivity, viscosity, surface tension, emf of galvanic cells of many molten systems, the measurement of which was stimulated first by their technological application. 

Based on thermodynamics [1], an equation can be derived to express the emf of a cell in terms of the concentrations of reactants and reaction products. The general reaction for a galvanic cell is... 

When Nernst starteid work alongside Arrhenius in Ostwald s Leipzig laboratory in 1887, there was uncertainty as to the location and quantification of the electromotive force (emf) of galvanic cells. 

That is, we set AG j(H+, aq) = 0. Then the thermodynamic properties of anions can be found by measuring the chemical potentials of ionic solutions containing H (as, for example, by the technique of galvanic cell electromotive forces (emfs), described below) in combination with different anions, and then using Eq. (4.1.3b). The anionic chemical potentials so determined can be employed as secondary standards in solutions containing different cations, and this matching process is continued as needed. Extensive tabulations constructed in this manner are available. However, this convention becomes inapplicable for processes where H" " ions are transported across the phase boundaries of the aqueous solutions. 

As for thermodynamic measurements using liquid electrolytes, galvanic cells with solid ion conductors are widely applied to study thermodynamic properties of solids and melts. These measurements are based on the determination of galvanic cell emf (Chap. 1) when the reference electrode potential is known. In a simplest case, when A " cation-conducting electrolyte is employed and the RE comprises metal A, the cells... 

Knowledge of the Volta potential of a metal/solution interface is relevant to the interpretation of the absolute electrode potential. According to the modem view, the relative electrode potential (i.e., the emf of a galvanic cell) measures the value of the energy of the electrons at the Fermi level of the given metal electrode relative to the metal of the reference electrode. On the other hand, considered separately, the absolute value of the electrode potential measures the work done in transferring an electron from a metal surrounded by a macroscopic layer of solution to a point in a vacuum outside the solotion. ... 

This equation links the EMF of a galvanic cell to the Gibbs energy change of the overall current-producing reaction. It is one of the most important equations in the thermodynamics of electrochemical systems. It follows directly from the first law of thermodynamics, since nF% is the maximum value of useful (electrical) work of the system in which the reaction considered takes place. According to the basic laws of thermodynamics, this work is equal to -AG . 

The EMF values of galvanic cells and the electrode potentials are usually determined isothermally, when all parts of the cell, particularly the two electrode-electrolyte interfaces, are at the same temperature. The EMF values will change when this temperature is varied. According to the well-known thermodynamic Gibbs-Helmholtz equation, which for electrochemical systems can be written as... 

Having introduced matters pertaining to the electrochemical series earlier, it is only relevant that an appraisal is given on some of its applications. The coverage hereunder describes different examples which include aspects of spontaneity of a galvanic cell reaction, feasibility of different species for reaction, criterion of choice of electrodes to form galvanic cells, sacrificial protection, cementation, concentration and tempera lure effects on emf of electrochemical cells, clues on chemical reaction, caution notes on the use of electrochemical series, and finally determination of equilibrium constants and solubility products. 

In case (c), a voltage opposite to and higher than the emf of the galvanic cell is imposed as a consequence, the current flow and hence also the electrochemical reactions are reversed, which means that half-reaction 1 becomes an anodic oxidation and half-reaction 2 is a cathodic reduction, so that Zn is deposited instead of Cu. 

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