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Overpoten,al*
• In
electrochemistry,
overpoten,al
is
the
poten,al
difference
(voltage)
between
a
half-‐reac,on's
thermodynamically
determined
reduc,on
poten,al
and
the
poten,al
at
which
the
redox
event
is
experimentally
observed.
• A
galvanic
cell's
anode
is
less
nega,ve
supplying
less
energy
than
thermodynamically
possible.
• A
galvanic
cell's
cathode
is
less
posi,ve
supplying
less
energy
than
thermodynamically
possible.
For
the
sake
of
simplicity
we
may
suppose
that
thermal
or
mechanical
agita,on
contribute
to
the
constancy
of
CAeq
(at
a
distance
greater
than
δ)
while
CA
varies
linearly
un,l
the
electrode
Maeer
transport
The
reac,on
rate
Max
value
=
Δ
is
of
the
order
of
0.1mm
and
however
it
depends
on
conc
and
temperature
Maeer
transport
• This
kind
of
overpoten,al
is
important
when
gaseous
films
form
at
the
electrode
This
is
the
case
in
fuel
cells
porous
electrode
when
solid-‐liquid-‐gas
phases
should
contact
To
obtain
the
best
result;
the
synthesis
is
a
certain
weeability
value,
where
weeability
Is
represented
by
the
contact
angle
of
the
solid
in
that
liquid
The
contact
angle
Young
Charge
transport
This
kind
of
overpoten,al
is
important
-‐
if
films
of
materials
are
produced
at
the
interface
(solid
or
gaseous),
-‐ when
conduc,vity
depends
on
p
or
n
semiconductors
formed
on
the
electrode
-‐ when
a
gas-‐
liquid
emulsion
is
formed
at
the
interface
It
has
an
effect
on
the
heat
balance
because
the
increase
of
the
electric
resistance
contributes
to
the
hea,ng
balance
and
this
energy
is
subtracted
to
the
energy
used
for
the
chemical
reac,ons
A
posi,ve
effect
is
that
exactly
this
hea,ng
may
be
used
to
maintain
a
high
temperature
in
the
electrochemical
cell
Reac,on
overpoten,al
• The
general
approach
is
once
again
similar
to
the
case
of
maeer
transport
• One
may
have
two
cases
• The
reactant
is
produced
by
a
previous
chemical
reac,on
• The
electrochemical
product
is
followed
by
a
further
reac,on
to
complete
the
process
•
Suppose
one
has
the
first
case
Reac,on
overpoten,al
A
is
produced
by
a
previous
chemical
reac,on
The rate of the process increase when CA decreases un,l a limit value when CA=0
We
may
suppose
that
the
transport
is
faster
than
the
reac,on
so
that
X
and
B
maintain
the
conc
values
they
have
in
the
solu,on
bulk
In
the
first
equa,on
v=0
when
the
concentra,ons
have
equilibrium
values
and consequently
Some
experimental
observa,ons
on
the
metal
of
the
electrode:
-‐
a
low
hydrogen
overpoten,al
is
correlated
with
the
ability
to
catalyse
hydrogena,on
reac,on
-‐
if
a
metal
has
a
high
hydrogen
overpoten,al
and
one
adds
liele
quan,,es
of
low
overpoten,al
metals
then
the
over
poten,al
is
reduced
Hydrogen
overpoten,al
Hydrogen
mechanism
The
volcano
graph
Anodic
processes
Concurrent
reac,ons
• Commonly
at
the
same
electrode
many
different
reac,ons
can
take
place
• The
condi,ons
of
this
are:
• If
i
is
the
total
current
density
and
ei
the
efficiency
of
the
i-‐th
current
• Then
ii
=
i
ei
• And
i
=
Σi
ii
=
i
Σi
ei
• WARNING;
the
poten,al
will
be
iden,cal
for
each
process!!!
• BUT
• The
poten,al
is
the
sum
of
a
reversible
frac,on
and
an
overpoten,al
• For
the
anodic
and
the
cathodic
poten,als
• In
prac,ce
this
will
correspond
to
the
fact
that
while
the
total
poten,al
will
be
the
same
for
each
reac,on
• a
DIFFERENT
OVERPOTENTIAL
is
present
for
EACH
reac,on
Concurrent
reac,ons