Kinetics of Central Ion Electroreduction in Cerium (IV)-Decatungstate

A general characteristics is given to the kinetics of electroreduction of cerium-decatugstate anions on mercury, polycrystalline gold, and the pyrolytic-graphite basis plane in acetate buffer solutions (pH 3.5-6.0). Based on the analysis of UV absorption spectra, the ratio of two reactant forms differing in the protonation degree in solutions under study is estimated. At a negatively charged mercury electrode, the reduction of the Ce(IV) central ion is shown to proceed as an outer-sphere process with classical manifestations of the psi-prime effect (polarization curves reveal a current minimum which deepens with supporting electrolyte dilution and an increase in the reactant negative charge). On the positively charged surface, the current is observed to increase with an increase in the supporting electrolyte concentration, which is interpreted in terms of the strong adsorption of the reactant and its coadsorption with cations. The gold electrode demonstrates pronounced effects of strong chemisorption. Adsorption complications observed on pyrolytic graphite are shown to become strongther for surfaces with more pronounced nonideal behavior. For low concentrations of atomar steps (apparently, for low coverages of pyrolytic-graphite surface with the adsorbed reactant), the quasireversible electron transfer with the rate increasing with increasing pH is observed.