A new electrocatalytic mechanism for the oxidation of phenols at platinum electrodes

Electrochemical oxidation of phenolic compounds generally produces unstable phenoxy radicals that readily polymerize to passivate the surface of solid electrodes. In this study, the electrocatalytic oxidation of phenol in the presence and absence of methanol was investigated by cyclic voltammetry on a platinum electrode. The cyclic voltammogram of phenol in a mixture of phosphate buffer/methanol solution showed well-defined peaks at ∼600 mV vs. Ag/AgCl reference electrode, which surprising, gradually increased with repetitive scanning, stabilizing after 50 cycles. This unexpected behavior is in contrast to previous studies involving phenolic compounds, which always show a decrease in intensity during continuous potential scanning. Scanning electrochemical spectroscopy (SEM) was further used to investigate the changes in the surface morphology of the Pt electrode after electrodeposition. A new electrocatalytic mechanism for phenol oxidation on the surface of a Pt electrode is suggested in the presence of methanol. The proposed mechanism is based on the formation of a film of Pt oxide/hydroxides onto which the phenol and the products of its electrochemical oxidation are further deposited. The mechanism was also studied using more complex phenolic compounds including resveratrol, quercetin and bisphenol A. The results emphasized the effect of aryl substituents on the electrochemistry of this particular class of compounds.     

Highly stable electrochemical oxidation of phenolic compounds at carbon ionic liquid electrode

A carbon ionic liquid electrode (CILE) was used for the investigation of the electrochemical oxidation of phenolic compounds in acidic media using cyclic voltammetry, chronoamperometry and square wave voltammetry techniques. The results indicate that, contrary to many other electrodes, the oxidation of phenolic compounds on CILE is highly stable and does not result in electrode fouling. Cyclic voltammetry showed that phenolic compounds such as phenol, 2,4-dichlorophenol and catechol were oxidized at CILE and remained electroactive after multiple cycles and at high concentrations of phenol. The cyclic voltammetric response of the CILE is very stable with more than 99% of the initial activity remaining after 20 s of stirring of a 0.5 mM solution of phenol.     

Antipassivating Electrochemical Process of Glassy Carbon Electrode (GCE) Dedicated to the Oxidation of Nitrophenol Compounds

We report for the first time a novel electrochemical treatment applied to a glassy carbon electrode (GCE) during p‐nitrophenol (PNP) oxidation and dedicated to the limitation of electrode passivation by nitrophenol compounds oxidation. We propose an electrochemical process of direct phenol oxidation by starting the electrolysis at a very low potential, ?1.2 V/SCE, in order to generate a soluble monomer, p‐aminophenol, on the electrode surface. Then, p‐aminophenol elaborated on the electrode surface in the place of oligomers, gives benzoquinone as a by‐product and no film formation was observed. Furthermore, the presence of a p‐NiTSPc (film of nickel tetrasulfonated phtalocyanine) coating permitted to increase two times the electrode sensitivity without passivation, too.     

Electrochemical behavior of phenol at acetylene black-dihexadecyl hydrogen phosphate composite modified glassy carbon electrode in the presence of cetyltrimethylammonium bromide

The electrochemical response of phenol at acetylene black (AB)-dihexadecyl hydrogen phosphate (DHP) composite modified glassy carbon electrode in the presence of cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) was investigated. In this system, a sensitive oxidation peak at 0.62 V (SCE) was obtained. The electrode process and the influence of CTAB on the oxidation of phenol were explored by chronocoulometry and linear sweep voltammetry (LSV). Experimental conditions for the determination of phenol were optimized. In the range of 5.0 × 10⁻⁷ to 1.2 × 10⁻⁵ M, the phenol concentration was linear with the oxidation peak current and the detection limit was found to be 1.0 × 10⁻⁷ M for 3 min accumulation. The method was applied for the determination of phenol in lake water and the results were satisfactory. Published in Russian in Elektrokhimiya, 2008, Vol. 44, No. 2, pp. 222–229. The text was submitted by the authors in English.     

Electrical Control of Urease Activity Immobilized to the Conducting Polymer on the Carbon Felt Electrode

The activity of urease varies by its redox reaction. Active urease has an SH group that is essential to exhibit its activity, however, oxidation agents such as quinone compounds can oxidize the SH group in urease and a S–S bond is produced, resulting in the loss of enzyme activity. The reduction potential of cystine was almost the same as that of the recovery of urease activity. In this work, it has been found that the SH group of urease can be oxidized by not only chemical reaction but also by the direct electrode oxidation of urease and the produced S–S bond can be reduced to SH group by chemical and electrode reactions, and the original enzyme activity is recovered. This research shows that the regulation of urease activity is easily possible by changing the electrode potential of the porous carbon felt immobilized urease. The variation of urease activity was monitored by ammonia or carbon dioxide electrode equipped with the urease immobilized carbon felt, and the ammonia or carbon oxide generated from urea can transfer through the carbon felt to reach the each gas permeable membrane. The combination of gas electrode with porous conducting material such as carbon can supply the novel device for the electrochemical investigation of enzyme activity.     

硫酸溶液中苯酚在Ti/PbO2电极上的循环伏安研究

用循环伏安法研究了Ti/PbO₂电极在苯酚硫酸溶液中的电催化作用. 结果表明, 在硫酸溶液中, Ti/PbO₂阳极对苯酚具有电催化氧化作用. 如果苯酚浓度较低, 产生的吸附态羟基自由基可以将苯酚氧化, 直至完全矿化. 当苯酚浓度较高或产生的羟基自由基量相对较小时, 苯酚或中间产物可吸附在电极表面, 降低电极的真实表面积, 减少电极的活性点, 阻止反应物接近电极表面, 抑制苯酚的进一步氧化. 随着电解时间的延长, 这些吸附物由于逐渐被氧化, 电极活性恢复.     

Nanoporous gold electrode prepared from gold compact disk as the anode for the microbial fuel cell

The electrodes (anode and cathode) have an important role in the efficiency of a microbial fuel cell (MFC), as they can determine the rate of charge transfer in an electrochemical process. In this study, nanoporous gold electrode, prepared from commercially available gold-made compact disk, is utilized as the anode in a two-chamber MFC. The performance of nanoporous gold electrode in the MFC is compared with that of gold film, carbon felt and acid-heat-treated carbon felt electrodes which are usually employed as the anode in the MFCs. Electrochemical surface area of nanoporous gold electrode exhibits a 7.96-fold increase rather than gold film electrode. Scanning electron microscopy analysis also indicates the homogeneous biofilm is formed on the surface of nanoporous gold electrode, while the biofilm formed at the surface of acid-heat-treated carbon felt electrode shows rough structure. Electrochemical studies show although modifications applied on carbon felt electrodes improve its performance, nanoporous gold electrode, due to its structure and better electrochemical properties, acts more efficiently as the MFC’s anode. The maximum power density produced by nanoporous gold anode is 4.71 mW m^?2 at current density of 16.00 mA m^?2, while this value for acid-heat-treated carbon felt anode is 3.551 mW m^?2 at current density of 9.58 mA m^?2.     

纳米二氧化铈修饰碳糊电极线性扫描伏安法测定苯酚

在0.01mol.L-1硼砂溶液(pH 9.18)中,用纳米二氧化铈修饰碳糊电极作为工作电极,线性扫描伏安法测定苯酚。伏安图上出现一灵敏的氧化峰,其峰电位为+0.56V(vs.SCE),峰电流与苯酚的浓度在1.0×10-7～2.0×10-4 mol.L-1范围内呈线性关系,检出限(3s/k)为5.0×10-8 mol.L-1。富集时间为30s,同时采用线性扫描伏安法研究苯酚在纳米二氧化铈修饰碳糊电极上的氧化还原反应,结果表明此电极反应为一不可逆的吸附过程。     

用对氨基苯酚改性的碳纳米管糊电极同时测定羟胺和苯酚(英文)

A carbon paste electrode that was chemically modified with multiwall carbon nanotubes and p-aminophenol was used as a selective electrochemical sensor for the simultaneous detection of hydroxylamine (HX) and phenol. Cyclic voltammetry, double potential-step chronoamperometry, square wave voltammetry (SWV), and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy were used to investigate the use of p-aminophenol in the carbon nanotubes paste matrixes as a mediator for the electrocatalytic oxidation of HX and phenol in aqueous solution. The coefficient of electron transfer and catalytic reaction rate constant were determined using the electrochemical methods. Under optimized conditions, the electrocatalytic oxidation current peaks for HX and phenol increased linearly with concentration in the range of 0.5-180.0 and 10.0-650.0 μmol/L for HX and phenol, respectively. The detection limits for HX and phenol were 0.15 and 7.1 μmol/L, respectively. The anodic potential peaks of HX and phenol were separated by 0.65 V in SWV. Because of good selectivity and sensitivity, the present method provides a simple method for the selective detection of HX and phenol in practical samples such as water samples.     

全钒氧化还原液流电池用石墨毡电极的分步氧化活化

石墨毡电极是组成钒电池的关键材料,其较低的电化学活性是造成钒电池功率密度较低的关键因素之一. 本论文采用一种简便的石墨毡电极分步氧化活化法,先将石墨毡在高锰酸钾溶液中进行氧化,后置于活化溶液中激发其反应活性. 通过对处理后的石墨毡进行循环伏安、交流阻抗测试、XPS以及SEM表征,发现氧化时间和活化溶液组成是影响电极性能的因素,在本文中,先经过3天氧化时间,后在配比为3:1的活化溶液中处理的电极,较其他方法处理的电极,电荷传递电阻明显降低,其与溶液之间的接触电阻最低,为7.33 Ω·cm ²,氧化还原峰值比更接近于1,有效提高了反应的活性与可逆性,经X射线光电子能谱分析发现性能提高的原因与表面含氧官能团数目增加有关. 单电池性能测试结果进一步证实,利用该方法处理的石墨毡为电极的单电池,较未经处理的电池相比性能更优,有更高的放电容量和能量效率,在100 mA·cm ^-2电流密度下,能量效率较未处理电极高出7.47%. 与热处理法、酸处理法及电化学氧化法相比较,该方法不需要辅助设备,不消耗能源.     

苯酚的电极过程吸附和氧化研究

应用循环伏安法测试了1mol·L-1硫酸水溶液和含苯酚的1molL-1硫酸水溶液体系的电化学行为,分析电极过程中苯酚及其中间产物在电极表面的吸附特征以及苯酚氧化的可逆性及其反应步骤;提出了特性吸附电位Ead;当电极电位大于Ead时,不同的氧化产物开始生成.     

钒液流电池用石墨毡电极电化学活化机理的交流阻抗研究

研究了不同氧化程度下的石墨毡在钒溶液中的吸附性、润湿性及其交流阻抗图谱(EIS), 结果发现随着氧化程度增加, 吸附性和润湿性增强; 交流阻抗谱包括两个半圆和一条直线, 高频半圆对应离子的吸脱附反应, 低频半圆对应电化学反应, 直线对应离子在溶液中的扩散过程. 随石墨毡氧化程度的增加, 低频半圆显著减小, 通过等效电路拟合及动力学参数计算, 发现电荷传递电阻显著减小.     

Regeneration of expanded graphite electrodes by joined electrochemical and ozone treatment in liquid phase

The researches presented in this work were devoted to electrochemico-chemical regeneration of exhausted electrode made of expanded graphite (EG). The aimed process was conducted by electrochemical treatment and ozone flow performed together in wet environment. EG was covered with insoluble products of incomplete oxidation of phenol formed during cyclic voltammetry measurement. The same electrochemical technique was applied for evaluation of regeneration efficiency. To understand the process of EG regeneration, the electrode was characterized by calculating of BET surface, FTIR and XPS analysis. Moreover, SEM images of the investigated samples were also done. Obtained results have showed the success of regeneration treatment, which led to significant enhancement of electrode activity compared to original EG. The present work also revealed that the mechanism of phenol electrooxidation is changed after the regeneration treatment of electrode material. This effect is probably caused by the modification of chemical composition of EG surface due to its interactions with OH radicals intensively generated during the process of regeneration.

     

Treated carbon felt as electrode material in vanadium redox flow batteries: a study of the use of carbon nanotubes as electrocatalyst

Electrodes for large-scale usage in vanadium redox flow battery are usually fabricated without any electrocatalyst due to the lack of good, viable options. The best performance is achieved of carbon-based materials. Recently, some researchers have been reported regarding the use of carbon nanotube as the electrocatalyst in the vanadium redox flow batteries. However, these researches have been carried out without making any comparison between the performance of the traditional method and the carbon nanotube electrocatalyst. In the present study, the loading of multi-walled carbon nanotube, the acid–heat treatment, and their combination were used to modify the carbon felt electrode to be applied in the vanadium redox flow battery. The obtained results showed better electrochemical properties for acid–heat-treated carbon felt electrode compared to the carbon nanotube-loaded one. The best electrode was obtained for using in a vanadium redox flow battery in terms of electrochemical and surface properties after applying a combination of two modification strategies. Applying this proposed method in modification of the carbon felt electrode increased its hydrophilicity more than 17 times and its capability to absorb VOSO₄ solution more than eight times. Also, the charge transfer resistance of a modified electrode, by the combination of the carbon nanotube and the acid–heat treatment, significantly decreased in both positive and negative poles of vanadium redox flow battery. Consequently, the exchange current density enhanced more than 100- and 175-fold in positive and negative poles, respectively, in comparison with carbon felt electrode.     

Investigation of the carbon electrode changes during lithium oxygen cell operation in a tetraglyme-based electrolyte

In this paper we investigate in details the changes occurring in the lithium–oxygen cell during operation in a tetraglyme-base electrolyte, in terms of electrochemical behavior and of carbon electrode morphology. The study evidences a decrease of the cell polarization and impedance during cycling associated with a morphological change of the carbon electrode, as demonstrated by SEM images. We attribute the change of the electrode morphology to the already known carbon oxidation process, here resulting in an increased porosity favoring the reversible electrochemical process. The results here reported shed light on important aspects to be considered in order to better understand the complex behavior of the lithium–oxygen battery.     

Traitement électrochimique d' eaux usées chargées de phénol : étude comparative sur des électrodes de dioxyde de plomb et de platine

Electrochemical treatment of waste water containing phenol: a comparative study on lead dioxide and platinum electrodes. The objective of this work was to study the efficiency of the Pb/PbO₂ electrode for decomposing the molecule of phenol, then to compare it to a platinum model electrode. Preliminary investigations by cyclic voltammetry showed that the Pb/PbO₂ anode presents a good chemical and electrochemical stability and possesses a high oxygen overvoltage. The study also showed that the electrochemical oxidation of phenol on Pt and PbO₂ in acidic media is a complex process. Long-time electrolysis was carried out using a three potential-plateau program with different values of the oxidation potentials and different concentrations of phenol. The obtained results showed that the transformation of phenol is total on the Pb/PbO₂ anode and that it is partial on Pt. On the other hand an increase in the phenol concentration decreases the rate of its conversion on the electrodes.     

丹皮酚的电化学氧化及其反应机理研究

研究了在碱性磷酸盐缓冲溶液体系中,丹皮酚在固体电极上的电化学吸附氧化行为。与苯酚的电化学性质比较表明,碱性溶液中丹皮酚在电极表面上发生类似的不可逆的氧化。氧化产物发生随后化学反应,在电极表面生成致密的不导电聚合物膜。利用超微电极技术研究了丹皮酚电化学氧化的动力学过程,并用时间分辨快速扫描现场红外光谱电化学证明了电极表面的聚合物膜是芳醚类聚合物。     

Electrochemical oxidation of phenol on boron-doped diamond electrode

The process of phenol oxidation on a boron-doped diamond electrode (BDD) is studied in acidic electrolytes under different conditions of generation of active oxygen forms (AOFs). The scheme of phenol oxidation known from the literature for other electrode materials is confirmed. Phenol is oxidized through a number of intermediates (benzoquinone, carboxylic acids) to carbon dioxide and water. Comparative analysis of phenol oxidation rate constants is performed as dependent on the electrolysis conditions: direct anodic oxidation, with oxygen bubbling, and addition of H₂O₂. A scheme is confirmed according to which active radicals (OH^·, HO₂^·, HO₂⁻) are formed on a BDD anode that can oxidize the substrate which leads to formation of organic radicals interacting with each other and forming condensation products. Processes with participation of free radicals (chain-radical mechanism) play an important role in electrochemical oxidation on BDD. Intermediates and polymeric substances (polyphenols, quinone structures, and resins) are formed. An excess of the oxidant (H₂O₂) promotes a more effective oxidation of organic radicals and accordingly inhibition of the condensation process.     

掺硼金刚石电极电催化氧化酚类有机物的取代基效应

本文主要以当前水环境中存在酚类有机污染物为研究对象,探讨酚类有机污染物在掺硼金刚石(BDD)电极上的取代基效应,具体研究具有不同位置及种类官能团的取代酚类有机污染物在BDD电极上的电催化氧化过程,通过化学需氧量和浓度变化考察有机污染物在电催化降解过程中的降解趋势,深入分析电极种类、官能团位置与种类与电催化氧化活性之间的联系的同时,研究阳极材料电催化氧化有机污染物的机理及动力学。结果表明,有机物在电极表面的电催化过程以电产生羟基自由基为媒介,对苯二酚在不同电极上的电催化活性与电极析氧电位及表面产生羟基自由基量有着重要的联系,BDD电极拥有最强的电催化氧化活性;不同取代基团的对位取代酚在BDD电极上的电化学降解实验显示电催化反应速率受取代官能团自身的电子效应制约,有机物矿化过程中羟基自由基首先进攻苯环的对位发生取代反应,同时取代基脱离苯环过程成为整个取代酚类电化学降解过程的决速步骤,且有机物的电催化反应速率与取代基特征Hammett常数σ呈近似线性关系。     

电化学氧化法去除苯酚研究

利用氯碱厂报废的DSA电极电解苯酚,结果显示:此电极对一定浓度的苯酚溶液有较好的去除效果.按影响电解效果各主要因素进行筛选,最佳实验条件为:电流密度30mA/cm2,pH10,支持电解质浓度10mg/L,苯酚浓度10mg/L.电解2h后,CODcr的去除率为66.7%,吸光度去除率为90%.