The Magnetic Field Effect on Electrode Reaction Kinetics

THE MAGNETIC FIELD EFFECT ON ELECTRODE REACTION KINETICS 

A study involving iron amalgams in acidic and alkaline media indicates a magnetic field effect on the Tafel slope, probably due to a complex interaction of the magnetic field with amalgam formation, diffusion, and hydrogen evolution. Experimental results obtained with cupric sulfate solutions show no magnetic field effect on the transfer coefficient 

More recent findings hy Waskaas using iron electrodes in ferric chloride solutions tend to indicate that anode and cathode polarization curves depend on the magnetic field strength, but this effect is not purely kinetic, since it involves bulk-to-drffusion layer transfer of ferric ions. 

To counteract the (vexing) convection effects on kinetic experiments, Aogaki and co-workers, having developed a special electrode assembly to separate mass transport and kinetic effects, report a marked decrease in the exchange current density (about 25%) in magnetic fields imposed on a copper deposition cell. Virtually no effect on the transfer coefficient (a 0.44) was observed. Experimental results obtained in nickel-phosphorus alloy deposition, cupric ion reduction in ethylenediamine solutions, and the electrolytic reduction of acetophenone are further demonstrations of the interaction of the magnetic fields with polarization characteristics, and point to the difficulty of fully eliminating the effect of convection and/or diffusion on electrode kinetics. 

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IV. THE MAGNETIC FIELD EFFECT ON ELECTRODE REACTION KINETICS... 

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