Thermodynamics of Simple Electrochemical Reactions

It is important to obtain experimental information on the thermodynamics of electrode processes to ascertain the tendency of a particular reaction to occur under a given set of experimental conditions namely temperature, pressure, system com H)sition and electrode potential. Such information is provided by the standard- or formal-electrode potentials for the redox couple under consideration. Appropriate combinations of these potentials enable the thermodynamics of homogeneous redox processes to be determined accurately. However, such quantities often are subject to confusion and misinterpretation. It is, therefore, worthwhile to outline their significance for simple electrochemical reactions. This discussion provides background to the sections on electrochemical kinetics which follow. The evaluation of formal potentials for various types of electrode-reaction mechanisms is dealt with in 12.3.2.2. 

The thermal energy generated or absorbed by an electrochemical cell is determined first by the thermodynamic parameters of the cell reaction, and second by the overvoltages and efficiencies of the electrode processes and by the internal resistance of the cell system. While the former are generally relatively simple functions of the state of charge and temperature, the latter are dependent on many variables, including the cell history. 

One of the principal reasons for failure due to reaction with the service environment is the relatively complex nature of the reactions involved. Yet, in spite of all the complex corrosion jargon, whether a metal corrodes depends on the simple electrochemical cell set up by the environment. This might give the erroneous impression that it is possible to calculate such things as the corrosion rate of a car fender in the spring mush of salted city streets. Dr. M. Pourbaix has done some excellent work in the application of thermodynamics to corrosion, but this cannot yet be applied directly to the average complex situation. 

Consequently, a complete experimental separation of intrinsic and thermodynamic contributions to the electrochemical reactivity is restricted chiefly to one-electron processes where both halves of the redox couple are stable in solution. Nevertheless, the formalism embodied in Eq. (n) provides a useful basis for treating electrochemical reactivity in terms of fundamental physical models and is utilized for homogeneous redox reactions. It therefore will be employed in the following discussion of the structural and environmental factors that can influence the kinetics of simple inorganic electrode reactions. 

This chapter explains the fundamental principles and applications of electrochemical cells, the thermodynamics OF electrochemical reactions, and the cause and prevention of corrosion BY ELECTROCHEMICAL MEANS. SOME SIMPLE ELECTROLYTIC processes and the QUANTITATIVE ASPECTS OF ELECTROLYSIS ARE ALSO discussed. 

The fact that metal ions in complexes often have the ability to undergo oxidation and/or reduction, with the resultant complexes having distinctly different properties as a result of the change in the metal d-electron set, means that techniques able to probe these processes have developed (Table 7.4). In coordination chemistry, the technique of cyclic voltammetry (sometimes called electrochemical spectroscopy because of its capacity to rapidly probe behaviour in different oxidation states in simple solution experiments) is now commonly employed. Thermodynamic properties, such as reaction enthalpy and complex stability... 

The treatment of statistical thermodynamics has been extended to include the calculation of equilibrium constants for simple chemical reactions. At the end of the book, new sections on photophysical kinetics, electrochemical kinetics, and a brief chapter on polymers have been added. 

Since the establishment of spectroelectrochemistry very little effort has been devoted to the direct electrochemistry of redox proteins. Although many thermodynamic and kinetic parameters can be determined by UV-VIS spectroelectrochemistry, the electrochemical reaction mechanisms for redox proteins are not well understood. New techniques md new theoretical treatments are needed to address this issue. Moreover, most attention has been placed on relatively simple electron transfer proteins to date no one has reported the direct electrochemistry of a more complex system (e.g., a redox enzyme system) which unequivocally undergoes electron transfer to (or from) its active site. Considerable experimental work is needed to develop more fully spectroelectrochemical methods for biological systems. 

We have seen how to use standard reduction potentials to calculate for cells. Real cells are usually not constructed at standard state conditions. In fact, it is almost impossible to make measurements at standard conditions because it is not reasonable to adjust concentrations and ionic strengths to give unit activity for solutes. We need to relate standard potentials to those measured for real cells. It has been found experimentally that certain variables affect the measured cell potential. These variables include the temperature, concentrations of the species in solution, and the number of electrons transferred. The relationship between these variables and the measured cell emf can be derived from simple thermodynamics (see any introductory general chemistry text). The relationship between the potential of an electrochemical cell and the concentration of reactants and products in a general redox reaction... 

The information about the tendenqf for corrosion to occur that can be obtained from thermodynamic calculations is important and useful. However, most of the science and engineering aspects in the field of corrosion focus on knowing and reducing the rate of corrosion. The rate of corrosion is not addressed by thermodynamics it falls instead within the purview of kinetics. So the kinetics of electrochemical reactions in general, and corrosion reactions specifically, are at the heart of the subject of corrosion. This chapter will introduce electrochemical kinetics at a simple level, with sufficient detail to develop the concept of mixed potential theory. The interested reader is referred to other volumes of this encyclopedia and to textbooks in corrosion [1-9] for a more detailed description. The kinetic underpinnings of some of the electrochemical techniques for determination of corrosion rate will also be presented. The influence of transport on the rates of electrochemical reactions will be discussed in the next chapter (see Chapter 1.4). 

This primitive model has nevertheless an interesting property. It turns out that such a system attains a thermodynamic equilibrium state. No wonder that this approach with more complex lattices and rules became popular. Using the cellular automata we may stutty an extremely wide range of phenomena, such as turbulent flow of air along a wing surface, electrochemical reactions, etc. It is a simple and powerful tool of general importance. 

In this book we offer a coherent presentation of thermodynamics far from, and near to, equilibrium. We establish a thermodynamics of irreversible processes far from and near to equilibrium, including chemical reactions, transport properties, energy transfer processes and electrochemical systems. The focus is on processes proceeding to, and in non-equilibrium stationary states in systems with multiple stationary states and in issues of relative stability of multiple stationary states. We seek and find state functions, dependent on the irreversible processes, with simple physical interpretations and present methods for their measurements that yield the work available from these processes. The emphasis is on the development of a theory based on variables that can be measured in experiments to test the theory. The state functions of the theory become identical to the well-known state functions of equilibrium thermodynamics when the processes approach the equilibrium state. The range of interest is put in the form of a series of questions at the end of this chapter. 

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