Diffusivity of anion vacancies in WO3 passive films

The WO₃ films were grown in 0.1 M HClO₄ aqueous solution, at different formation potentials (E_f) in the range of 2.0-7.0 V versus sce, on W electrode. The anion diffusion coefficient (DO) of WO₃ films was calculated from EIS spectra, following the surface charge approach (at high-field limit approximation), the Point Defect Model and the Mott-Shottky analysis. Among the parameters necessary to evaluate DO, the half-jump distance (a) is very relevant, given that a small variation in a has a great impact in the calculation of DO. In this work, it is proposed the half-jump distance (a) should be evaluated from spectroscopic data (available in the literature). The value of a (∼1.9 Å) is taken from lattice constants of a-WO₃ (amorphous-WO₃), with different values of N (coordination number), and the lattice constants of m-WO₃ (monoclinic-WO₃). The calculated value of DO was ∼3 × 10⁻¹⁷ cm²/s.     

Estimation of standard reduction potentials of alkyl radicals involved in atom transfer radical polymerization

The redox properties of some alkyl radicals, which are important in atom transfer radical polymerization both as initiators and mimics of the propagating radical chains, have been investigated in CH₃CN by an indirect electrochemical method based on homogeneous redox catalysis involving alkyl halides (RX) and electrogenerated aromatic or heteroaromatic radical anions (D⁻). Dissociative electron transfer between RX and D⁻ yields an intermediate radical (R), which further reacts with D⁻ either by radical coupling or by electron transfer. Examination of the competition between these reactions, which depends on ED/D−°, allows determination of the standard reduction potential of R as well as the self-exchange reorganization energy λR/R⁻. The standard reduction potentials obtained for the radicals CH₂CN, CH₂CO₂Et and CH(CH₃)CO₂Me are −0.72 ± 0.06, −0.63 ± 0.07 and −0.66 ± 0.07 V vs. SCE, respectively. Quite high values of λR/R⁻ (from 122 to 164 kJ mol⁻¹) were found for all radicals, indicating that a significant change of structure accompanies electron transfer to R.     

Degradation of the fluoroquinolone enrofloxacin by electrochemical advanced oxidation processes based on hydrogen peroxide electrogeneration

Solutions of the veterinary fluoroquinolone antibiotic enrofloxacin in 0.05 M Na₂SO₄ of pH 3.0 have been comparatively degraded by electrochemical advanced oxidation processes such as anodic oxidation with electrogenerated H₂O₂ (AO-H₂O₂), electro-Fenton (EF), photoelectro-Fenton (PEF) and solar photoelectro-Fenton (SPEF) at constant current density. The study has been performed using an undivided stirred tank reactor of 100 ml and a batch recirculation flow plant of 2.5 l with an undivided filter-press cell coupled to a solar photoreactor, both equipped with a Pt or boron-doped diamond (BDD) anode and a carbon-polytetrafluoroethylene gas diffusion cathode to generate H₂O₂ from O₂ reduction. In EF, PEF and SPEF, hydroxyl radical (OH) is formed from Fenton's reaction between added catalytic Fe²⁺ and generated H₂O₂. Almost total decontamination of enrofloxacin solutions is achieved in the stirred tank reactor by SPEF with BDD. The use of the batch recirculation flow plant showed that this process is the most efficient and can be viable for industrial application, becoming more economic and yielding higher mineralization degree with raising antibiotic content. This is feasible because organics are quickly oxidized with OH formed from Fenton's reaction and at BDD from water oxidation, combined with the fast photolysis of complexes of Fe(III) with generated carboxylic acids under solar irradiation. The lower intensity of UVA irradiation used in PEF with BDD causes a slower degradation. EF with BDD is less efficient since OH cannot destroy the most persistent Fe(III)-oxalate and Fe(III)-oxamate complexes. AO-H₂O₂ with BDD yields the poorest mineralization because pollutants are only removed with OH generated at BDD. All procedures are less potent using Pt as anode due to the lower production of OH at its surface. Enrofloxacin decay always follows a pseudo first-order reaction. Its primary aromatic by-products and short intermediates including polyols, ketones, carboxylic acids and N-derivatives are detected by GC-MS and chromatographic techniques. The evolution of F⁻, NO₃⁻ and NH₄⁺ ions released to the medium during each process is also determined.     

Electrochemical investigation of superoxide anion scavenging ability of 1,2,3-triketohydrindene hydrate in aprotic solvents

1,2,3-Triketohydrindene hydrate (NHy) shows well-defined redox electrochemistry in the formation of monoanionic radical (NHy⁻) and dianion (NHy²⁻) in nitrogen saturated aprotic solvents such as acetonitrile and dimethylsulfoxide. Cyclic voltammetry reveals that in an oxygen-saturated solution of DMSO, the oxidation peak of superoxide anion (O₂⁻) at −0.7 V versus Ag/AgCl wire electrode, decreases systematically with increasing NHy concentration. The similar behaviour is observed in the rotating disk voltammetry. On Pt disk, oxygen is reduced to O₂⁻ at a constant potential of −0.8 V and at Pt ring, O₂⁻ is oxidised to oxygen and the corresponding limiting current plateau in the ring voltammogram is decreased linearly as [NHy] is increased. In aqueous solutions, NHy is found to exhibit completely different redox chemistry due to its structural changes and hence showed no favourable redox potentials for efficient quenching of O₂⁻.     

Electrochemical behaviour of gold and stainless steel under proton irradiation and active RedOx couples

Model experiments are reported where proton beams delivered by the cyclotron located at CERI (CNRS-Orléans) are used for irradiating AISI 316L/water and Au/water high purity interfaces with 6 MeV protons. The free exchange potentials at the interfaces are recorded as a function of time at room temperature in situ before, under, and after proton irradiation. The evolutions are compared to those calculated for the Nernst potentials associated with the radiolytic RedOx couples. It is shown how the comparison gives evidence that five radiolytic species - O₂, H₂O₂, HO₂⁻, HO₂ and O₂⁻ - exchange electrons at the Au interfaces in a range of dose rates that vary over three orders of magnitudes, i.e. 0.0048 < dr(10⁷ Gy h⁻¹) < 4.8. The balance between the electron exchanges at Au interfaces is adjusted by the RedOx reactions associated with the above species. The free exchange potential reaches the same steady value for Au and AISI 316L interfaces irradiated at high doses, ≥2.5 × 10⁷ Gy, (0.020 ± 0.025) V versus NHE. Such low values are the first ones to be reported. The HO₂ and O₂⁻ radical disproportionations play a key role and control the potential at the interfaces under 6 MeV proton flux. This role is generally mostly overlooked for gamma irradiation.     

Electro-Fenton, UVA photoelectro-Fenton and solar photoelectro-Fenton degradation of the drug ibuprofen in acid aqueous medium using platinum and boron-doped diamond anodes

The degradation of a 41 mg dm⁻³ ibuprofen (2-(4-isobutylphenyl)propionic acid) solution of pH 3.0 has been comparatively studied by electrochemical advanced oxidation processes (EAOPs) like electro-Fenton, UVA photoelectro-Fenton and solar photoelectro-Fenton at constant current density. Experiments were performed in a one-compartment cell with a Pt or boron-doped diamond (BDD) anode and an O₂-diffusion cathode. Heterogeneous hydroxyl radical (OH) is generated at the anode surface from water oxidation, while homogeneous OH is formed from Fenton's reaction between Fe²⁺ and H₂O₂ generated at the cathode, being its production strongly enhanced from photo-Fenton reaction induced by sunlight. Higher mineralization is attained in all methods using BDD instead Pt, because the former produces greater quantity of OH enhancing the oxidation of pollutants. The mineralization rate increases under UVA and solar irradiation by the rapid photodecomposition of complexes of Fe(III) with acidic intermediates. The most potent method is solar photoelectro-Fenton with BDD giving 92% mineralization due to the formation of a small proportion of highly persistent final by-products. The effect of Fe²⁺ content, pH and current density on photoelectro-Fenton degradation has been studied. The ibuprofen decay always follows a pseudo-first-order kinetics and its destruction rate is limited by current density and UV intensity. Aromatics such as 1-(1-hydroxyethyl)-4-isobutylbenzene, 4-isobutylacetophenone, 4-isobutylphenol and 4-ethylbenzaldehyde, and carboxylic acids such as pyruvic, acetic, formic and oxalic have been identified as oxidation by-products. Oxalic acid is the ultimate by-product and the fast photodecarboxylation of its complexes with Fe(III) under UVA or solar irradiation explains the higher oxidation power of photoelectro-Fenton methods in comparison to electro-Fenton procedures.     

Study on the oxidation of C4-phenolic-1,4-dihydropyridines and its reactivity towards superoxide radical anion in dimethylsulfoxide

Electrochemical characterization on glassy carbon electrode (GCE) and reactivity with superoxide radical anion in aprotic medium of three new synthesized C4-phenolic-1, 4-dihydropyridines is reported.Voltammetry, coulometry, controlled-potential electrolysis (CPE), UV-vis spectroscopy, ¹H NMR techniques were employed for the characterization of title compounds.The oxidation mechanism involves initially an oxidation process on the phenol moiety with the formation of the corresponding quinone followed by a second one affecting the dihydropyridine ring to give the pyridine derivative. Both processes appeared irreversible in character.Cyclic voltammetry was used to generate O₂⁻ by reduction on GCE of molecular oxygen in DMSO. The reactivity of DHPs towards O₂⁻ was directly measured by the anodic current decay of the radical in the presence of increasing concentration of tested 1,4-dihydropyridines and compared with the reaction of the reference antioxidant, Trolox. The linear correlations obtained between the anodic current of O₂⁻ and compound concentrations in the range between 0.01 mM and 1.00 mM allowed the determination of both the DHP antioxidant index (AI) and the concentrations needed to consume 50% of O₂⁻. Synthesized C4-phenolic 1,4-dihydropyridines exhibited significant scavenging capacity towards superoxide radical anion higher than Trolox and tested commercial 1,4-dihydropyridines.     

An electrochemical study of H2O2 decomposition on single-phase γ-FeOOH films

The electrochemical reduction and oxidation kinetics of hydrogen peroxide on γ-FeOOH films chemically deposited on indium tin oxide substrates were studied over the pH range of 9.2-12.6 and the H₂O₂ concentration range of 10⁻⁴ to 10⁻² mol dm⁻³. The Tafel slopes for H₂O₂ reduction and oxidation obtained from polarization measurements are 106 ± 4 and 93 ± 15 mV dec⁻¹, respectively, independent of pH and the concentration of H₂O₂. Both the reduction and oxidation of H₂O₂ on γ-FeOOH have a first-order dependence on the concentration of molecular H₂O₂. However, for the pH dependence, the reduction has an inverse first-order dependence, whereas the oxidation has a first-order dependence, on the concentration of OH⁻. For both cases the electroactive species is the molecular H₂O₂, not its base form, HO₂⁻. Based on these observations, reaction kinetic mechanisms are proposed which involve adsorbed radical intermediates; HOOH⁻ and HO for the reduction, and HO₂H⁺, HO₂, and O₂⁻ for the oxidation. These intermediates are assumed to be in linear adsorption equilibria with OH⁻ and H⁺ in the bulk aqueous phase, respectively, giving the observed pH dependences. The rate-determining step is the reduction or oxidation of the adsorbed H₂O₂ to the corresponding intermediates, a reaction step which involves the use of Fe^III/Fe^II sites in the γ-FeOOH surface as an electron donor-acceptor relay. The rate constant for the H₂O₂ decomposition on γ-FeOOH determined from the oxidation and reduction of Tafel lines is very low, indicating that the γ-FeOOH surface is a very poor catalyst for H₂O₂ decomposition.     

Electrochemical destruction of chlorophenoxy herbicides by anodic oxidation and electro-Fenton using a boron-doped diamond electrode

The degradation of herbicides 4-chlorophenoxyacetic acid (4-CPA), 4-chloro-2-methylphenoxyacetic acid (MCPA), 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4-D) and 2,4,5-trichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4,5-T) in aqueous medium of pH 3.0 has been comparatively studied by anodic oxidation and electro-Fenton using a boron-doped diamond (BDD) anode. All solutions are totally mineralized by electro-Fenton, even at low current, being the process more efficient with 1 mM Fe²⁺ as catalyst. This is due to the production of large amounts of oxidant hydroxyl radical (OH) on the BDD surface by water oxidation and from Fenton’s reaction between added Fe²⁺ and H₂O₂ electrogenerated at the O₂-diffusion cathode. The herbicide solutions are also completely depolluted by anodic oxidation. Although a quicker degradation is found at the first stages of electro-Fenton, similar times are required for achieving overall mineralization in both methods. The decay kinetics of all herbicides always follows a pseudo first-order reaction. Reversed-phase chromatography allows detecting 4-chlorophenol, 4-chloro-o-cresol, 2,4-dichlorophenol and 2,4,5-trichlorophenol as primary aromatic intermediates of 4-CPA, MCPA, 2,4-D and 2,4,5-T, respectively. Dechlorination of these products gives Cl⁻, which is slowly oxidized on BDD. Ion-exclusion chromatography reveals the presence of persistent oxalic acid in electro-Fenton by formation of Fe³⁺-oxalato complexes, which are slowly destroyed by OH adsorbed on BDD. In anodic oxidation, oxalic acid is mineralized practically at the same rate as generated.     

In situ ESR spectroscopic evidence of the spin-trapped superoxide radical, O2, electrochemically generated in DMSO at room temperature

Superoxide radical (O₂⁻) was both electrochemically generated and detected at room temperature. In situ ESR spectroelectrochemistry with spin trapping was used for the radical detection. That is, the O₂⁻ radical was obtained in a DMSO solution under cyclic voltammetry conditions as soon as the potential of the dioxygen electroreduction was reached. This radical reacted then with a 5,5-dimethyl-1-pyrroline-N-oxide (DMPO) spin-trap reagent present in solution to form the DMPO-OOH adduct. The hyperfine coupling constants determined for the adduct were a_N = 1.285 mT, and in accord to those reported in literature.     

Inactivation of Escherichia coli in Na2SO4 electrolyte using boron-doped diamond anode

Electrochemical disinfection in chloride-free electrolyte has attracted more and more attention due to advantages of no production of disinfection byproducts (DBPs), and boron-doped diamond (BDD) anode with several unique properties has shown great potential in this field. In this study, inactivation of Escherichia coli (E. coli) was investigated in Na₂SO₄ electrolyte using BDD anode. Firstly, disinfection tests were carried on at different current density. The inactivation rate of E. coli and also the concentration of hydroxyl radical (OH) increased with the current density, which indicated the major role of OH in the disinfection process. At 20 mA cm⁻² the energy consumption was the lowest to reach an equal inactivation. Moreover, it was found that inactivation rate of E. coli rose with the increasing Na₂SO₄ concentration and they were inactivated more faster in Na₂SO₄ than in NaH₂PO₄ or NaNO₃ electrolyte even in the presence of OH scavenger, which could be attributed to the oxidants produced in the electrolysis of SO₄²⁻, such as peroxodisulfate (S₂O₈²⁻). And the role of S₂O₈²⁻ was proved in the disinfection experiments. These results demonstrated that, besides hydroxyl radical and its consecutive products, oxidants produced in SO₄²⁻ electrolysis at BDD anode played a role in electrochemical disinfection in Na₂SO₄ electrolyte.     

Acetone/Water as a new photoinitiating system for photografting: A theoretical study

Acetone can function as a high efficient photoinitiator for photografting copolymerization when it is mixed with water. The initiation mechanism of acetone/water as a new photoinitiating system for photografting copolymerization has been theoretically investigated at the B3LYP/6-31G** level. Acetone exists in the form of hydrates in its aqueous solution. Acetone dihydrate CH₃COCH₃·2H₂O is readily excited to a triplet state (T₁) under UV irradiation (254 nm) and then generates a radical C₃H₈O₂ involving two single electrons. The photolysis of C₃H₈O₂ is difficult to occur. However, the hydrogen abstraction from a polymer substrate by the ketonic oxygen of the radical is easier to take place, due to its lower energy requirement. The latter path produces a macromolecular radical that can initiate a photografting reaction easily. The photochemical reactions of acetone dihydrate produce less free radicals, leading to less termination reactions of the growing grafted chains. This study elucidates the photoinitiation mechanism of acetone/water photoinitiating system reasonably.     

Kinetic study on reversible addition-fragmentation chain transfer (RAFT) process for block and random copolymerizations of styrene and methyl methacrylate

The degenerative (exchange) chain transfer constant C_ex was determined for the dithioacetate-mediated living radical block and random copolymerizations of styrene (St) and methyl methacrylate (MMA) at 40 °C. The addition of the polystyrene (PSt) radical to a polymer-dithioacetate adduct (P-X) to form the intermediate radical (PSt-(X)-P) was (about twice) faster than that of the poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) radical to form the intermediate radical PMMA-(X)-P. The fragmentation (release) of the PMMA radical from the PSt-(X)-PMMA intermediate formed at the initiating stage of block copolymerization was much (about 100 times) faster than the release of the PSt radical, explaining why the block copolymerization of MMA from a PSt-dithiocarbonate adduct is not so satisfactory as that of St from a PMMA-dithiocarbonate adduct. In the random copolymerization, there was implicit penultimate unit effect on the exchange chain transfer process, which appeared in the addition process but not in the fragmentation process.     

The importance of electrode material in environmental electrochemistry: Formation and reactivity of free hydroxyl radicals on boron-doped diamond electrodes

A model describing the hydroxyl radical (HO) concentration profile at the boron-doped diamond (BDD) electrode, in the presence and absence of organic compounds, is presented. It is shown that this profile depends strongly on the reaction rate constant between the HO and the organic compound. Furthermore, it is shown that the presence of organics affects the current-potential (I-V) curves. In fact, the higher the reaction rate between organics and HO, the higher is the shift of the I-V curves toward lower potential with respect to oxygen evolution. Supposing that water discharge to free hydroxyl radicals on BDD is governed by Nernst equation, this shift of the I-V curves toward lower potentials has been calculated and compared with the experimental data obtained on BDD using two model compounds: methanol and formic acid.     

Reaction sequence for the mineralization of the short-chain carboxylic acids usually formed upon cleavage of aromatics during electrochemical Fenton treatment

Electrochemical Fenton treatment of aromatic pollutants in aqueous medium always leads to the formation of short-chain carboxylic acids, which account for the slower degradation rate at the final stages of the process. In order to gain further insight into the fate of such compounds, bulk electrolyses of 200 ml aqueous solutions of eleven C₁-C₄ carboxylics, namely formic, glyoxylic, oxalic, acetic, glycolic, pyruvic, malonic, maleic, fumaric, succinic and malic acid have been carried out by electro-Fenton process with 0.1 mM Fe²⁺ as catalyst, at room temperature and pH 3.0, applying a constant current and using an open and undivided cell equipped with a carbon-felt cathode and a Pt anode. In situ cathodic electrogeneration of Fenton's reagent leads to the formation of the very oxidizing species hydroxyl radical (OH) in the medium, allowing the degradation and total mineralization of all carboxylics studied. Various goals have been accomplished: (a) identification of the degradation intermediates for each carboxylic acid and study of their time course, (b) discussion and proposal of the reaction mechanisms under the action of OH/O₂, (c) analysis of the decay kinetics and determination of the absolute rate constants, which agree well with those available in literature for processes involving OH, (d) verification of the great oxidation ability of the process to degrade mixtures containing all the carboxylics, upon variation of some experimental parameters such as current, concentration and cathode dimensions and, finally, (e) elucidation of a detailed reaction sequence for their mineralization, indicating the plausible pre-eminent pathways.     

Anodic oxidation and electro-Fenton treatment of rotenone

Rotenone, a widely used botanical insecticide submitted to strong restrictions regarding its environmental hazards, was studied as a target compound for electro-Fenton (EF) treatment in aqueous-acetonitrile mixture (70:30) of pH 3.0. In this system, the degradation of organic pollutants occurs by attack of hydroxyl radicals (OH) which are produced from the reaction of added ferrous catalyst (Fe²⁺) and hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂) electrogenerated by oxygen reduction at carbon felt cathode. The degradative efficiency of EF system was comparatively studied versus anodic oxidation method (AO) in absence and presence of H₂O₂. It was found that only EF is sufficiently powerful to induce fast and efficient mineralization of rotenone and its degradation intermediates.The mineralization of rotenone was found to depend largely on organic solvent type, metal ion catalyst, applied current and initial rotenone concentration. The best operative conditions are achieved using aqueous-acetonitrile mixture of pH 3.0 in the presence of 0.2 mM Fe²⁺ catalyst with a current intensity of 100 mA. Under these optimized conditions, 30 min were sufficient to completely degrade rotenone in 100 mL of a 20 mg L⁻¹ solution. A nearly complete mineralization (∼96% of COD removal) was achieved after 8 h treatment.Rotenone removal kinetic was found to obey the pseudo-first order model and the absolute second order rate constant (k_Rot = 2.49 × 10⁹ M⁻¹ s⁻¹) for the reaction between the substrate and OH was derived.HPLC-MS and HPLC-DAD analysis were applied to identify and follow the evolution of rotenone oxidation products. Three stable aromatic intermediates were observed and two of these were identified as 12aβ-hydroxyrotenone and hydroquinone. Subsequent attack of these intermediates by OH radicals leads to the formation of aliphatic carboxylic acids such as succinic, acetic, oxalic and formic, quantified by ion-exclusion chromatography.     

Pathways for steam reforming of dimethyl ether under cold plasma conditions: A DFT study

Density functional theory has been used to study the thermodynamics associated with the steam reforming of dimethyl ether (DME) under cold plasma conditions. The calculation showed that the only thermodynamic obstacle of the production of hydrogen, CO, dimethoxymethane (DMMT) and 1,2-dimethoxyethane (DMET) was the dissociation of DME and steam molecules, which was easy to be overcome under cold plasma conditions. The formation of hydrogen and CO was through a multi-step pathway via the methoxy radical conversion and dissociation of formaldehyde, while the recombination of H generated extra hydrogen. The syntheses of DMMT and DMET are from the recombination of and CH₃O, which could be primarily generated through DME dissociation or the reactions: H + CH₃OCH₃, OH + CH₃OCH₃, . The structure and electronic properties of DME anion were also studied in this work. Theoretical calculation showed that the DME anion was less stable than the neutral molecule. The route for the formation of and CH₃O from DME anion is thermodynamically favorable.     

Correlation of cyclic voltammetry behaviour and photooxidative properties of indoprofen and its photoproducts

The electrochemical behaviour of indoprofen (INP) and its photoproducts was investigated in acetonitrile containing tetrabutylammonium hexafluorophosphate at a Pt or Cv ultramicro-electrodes. These photosensitizers (PS) undergo irreversible oxidation yielding at first a radical cation PS⁺ and more or less reversible reductions through monoelectronic exchange involving a radical anion PS⁻. By varying the potential scan speed, the stabilities of the radical anions were evaluated. The determination of the redox potential and Rehm-Weller's equation shows the high exergonicity of the oxidative photodamagings whatever is the compound PS. The difference in DNA photosensitizing properties could rather be related to a kinetic control and then to the relative stabilities of the radical anions PS⁻. Cyclic voltammetry was found powerful in order to get a new insight in the photosensitizing properties of drugs.     

ESR spectra of spin probe in PPO membrane

Poly(phenylene oxide) (PPO) polymer's membranes (dense) were prepared by blending spin probes (TEMPO, 5-, 12- and 16-doxylstearic aid) in the casting solution used for the preparation of membranes. It was noticed that the shape and size of the probe influence the ESR spectra of the NO radical in the poly(phenylene oxide)membrane. Unexpectedly, from the shape of the ESR signal it was noticed that of the NO radical of TEMPO in PPO membrane was more mobile than in water media. However, the motion of the NO radical of 16-doxylstearic acid was higher than NO of 5- and 12-doxylstearic acid when the radicals were in the PPO membrane. This could be due to the inductive effect from COOH group. The Hamiltonian parameters of the ESR signal indicated that all the probes were not randomly distributed in PPO membrane, but some probes were in orderly fashion.