Voltaic cells are driven by a spontaneous chemical reaction that produces an electric current through an outside circuit. These cells are important because they are the basis for the batteries that fuel modern society. But they are not the only kind of electrochemical cell. The reverse reaction in each case is non-spontaneous and requires electrical energy to occur.
The general form of the reaction can be written as: \[ \underset{\longleftarrow \text{Non spontaneous}}{\overset{\text{Spontaneous} \longrightarrow}{\text{Reactants} \rightleftharpoons \text{Products} + \text{Electrical Energy}}}\] It is possible to construct a cell that does work on a chemical system by driving an electric current through the system. These cells are called electrolytic cells. Electrolytic cells, like galvanic cells, are composed of two half-cells--one is a reduction half-cell, the other is an oxidation half-cell. The direction of electron flow in electrolytic cells, however, may be reversed from the direction of spontaneous electron flow in galvanic cells, but the definition of both cathode and anode remain the same, where reduction takes place at the cathode and oxidation occurs at the anode. Because the directions of both half-reactions have been reversed, the sign, but not the magnitude, of the cell potential has been reversed. Electrolytic cells are very similar to voltaic (galvanic) cells in the sense that both require a salt bridge, both have a cathode and anode side, and both have a consistent flow of electrons from the anode to the cathode. However, there are also striking differences between the two cells. The main differences are outlined below:
Figure \(\PageIndex{1}\): Electrochemical Cells. A galvanic cell (left) transforms the energy released by a spontaneous redox reaction into electrical energy that can be used to perform work. The oxidative and reductive half-reactions usually occur in separate compartments that are connected by an external electrical circuit; in addition, a second connection that allows ions to flow between the compartments (shown here as a vertical dashed line to represent a porous barrier) is necessary to maintain electrical neutrality. The potential difference between the electrodes (voltage) causes electrons to flow from the reductant to the oxidant through the external circuit, generating an electric current. In an electrolytic cell (right), an external source of electrical energy is used to generate a potential difference between the electrodes that forces electrons to flow, driving a nonspontaneous redox reaction; only a single compartment is employed in most applications. In both kinds of electrochemical cells, the anode is the electrode at which the oxidation half-reaction occurs, and the cathode is the electrode at which the reduction half-reaction occurs.
To explain what happens in an electrolytic cell let us examine the decomposition of molten sodium chloride into sodium metal and chlorine gas. The reaction is written below.
If molten \(NaCl_{(l)}\) is placed into the container and inert electrodes of \(C_{(s)}\) are inserted, attached to the positive and negative terminals of a battery, an electrolytic reaction will occur.
Predicting Electrolysis Reaction There are four primary factors that determine whether or not electrolysis will take place even if the external voltage exceeds the calculated amount:
If all four of these factors are accounted for, we can successfully predict electrode half reactions and overall reactions in electrolysis.
Exercise \(\PageIndex{1}\) Predict the electrode reactions and the overall reaction when the anode is made of (a) copper and (b) platinum.
Michael Faraday discovered in 1833 that there is always a simple relationship between the amount of substance produced or consumed at an electrode during electrolysis and the quantity of electrical charge Q which passes through the cell. For example, the half-equation \[Ag^+ + e^– \rightarrow Ag\] tells us that when 1 mol Ag+ is plated out as 1 mol Ag, 1 mol e– must be supplied from the cathode. Since the negative charge on a single electron is known to be 1.6022 × 10–19 C, we can multiply by the Avogadro constant to obtain the charge per mole of electrons. This quantity is called the Faraday Constant, symbol F: F = 1.6022 × 10–19 C × 6.0221 × 1023 mol–1 = 9.649 × 104 C mol–1 Thus in the case of Eq. (1), 96 490 C would have to pass through the cathode in order to deposit 1 mol Ag. For any electrolysis the electrical charge Q passing through an electrode is related to the amount of electrons ne– by \[F=\dfrac{Q}{n_{e^-}}\] Thus F serves as a conversion factor between \(n_{e^-}\) and \(Q\). Often the electrical current rather than the quantity of electrical charge is measured in an electrolysis experiment. Since a coulomb is defined as the quantity of charge which passes a fixed point in an electrical circuit when a current of one ampere flows for one second, the charge in coulombs can be calculated by multiplying the measured current (in amperes) by the time (in seconds) during which it flows: \[Q = It\] In this equation I represents current and t represents time. If you remember that coulomb = 1 ampere × 1 second 1 C = 1 A s you can adjust the time units to obtain the correct result. Now that we can predict the electrode half-reactions and overall reactions in electrolysis, it is also important to be able to calculate the quantities of reactants consumed and the products produced. For these calculations we will be using the Faraday constant: 1 mol of electron = 96,485 C charge (C) = current (C/s) x time (s) (C/s) = 1 coulomb of charge per second = 1 ampere (A) Simple conversion for any type of problem:
Example \(\PageIndex{1}\) The electrolysis of dissolved Bromine sample can be used to determine the amount of Bromine content in sample. At the cathode, the reduction half reaction is \[Br^{2+}_{(aq)} + 2 e^- \rightarrow 2 Br^-\]. What mass of Bromine can be deposited in 3.00 hours by a current of 1.18 A? Solution: 3.00 hours x 60 min/hour x 60 sec/1 min x 1.18 C(A) / 1 sec x 1 mol e-/96,485 C = 0.132 mol e-
1) Predict the products of electrolysis by filling in the graph: Cl-, Br-, I-, H+, OH-, Cu2+, Pb2+, Ag+, K+, Na+, 2) Calculate the quantity of electrical charge needed to plate 1.386 mol Cr from an acidic solution of K2Cr2O7according to half-equation H2Cr2O7(aq) + 12H+(aq) + 12e– → 2Cr(s) + 7 H2O(l) 3) Hydrogen peroxide, H2O2, can be manufactured by electrolysis of cold concentrated sulfuric acid. The reaction at the anode is 2H2SO4 → H2S2O8 + 2H+ + 2e– When the resultant peroxydisulfuric acid, H2S2O8, is boiled at reduced pressure, it decomposes: 2H2O + H2S2O8 → 2H2SO4 + H2O2 Calculate the mass of hydrogen peroxide produced if a current of 0.893 flows for 1 hour. 4) The electrolysis of dissolved Cholride sample can be used to determine the amount of Chloride content in sample. At the cathode, the reduction half reaction is Cl2+(aq) + 2 e- -> 2 Cl-. What mass of Chloride can be deposited in 6.25 hours by a current of 1.11 A? 5) In an electrolytic cell the electrode at which the electrons enter the solution is called the ______ ; the chemical change that occurs at this electrode is called _______.
6)How long (in hours) must a current of 5.0 amperes be maintained to electroplate 60 g of calcium from molten CaCl2?
8) How many faradays are required to reduce 1.00 g of aluminum(III) to the aluminum metal?
9) Find the standard cell potential for an electrochemical cell with the following cell reaction. Zn(s) + Cu2+(aq) → Zn2+(aq) + Cu(s)
1). Cl- chlorine H+ hydrogen Cl- chlorine Cu2+ copper I- iodine H+ Hhydrogen 2) 12 mol e– is required to plate 2 mol Cr, giving us a stoichiometric ratio S(e–/Cr). Then the Faraday constant can be used to find the quantity of charge. nCr ne– QQ = 1.386 mol Cr × × = 8.024 × 105 C3) The product of current and time gives us the quantity of electricity, Q. Knowing this we easily calculate the amount of electrons, ne–. From the first half-equation we can then find the amount of peroxydisulfuric acid, and the second leads to nH2O2 and finally to mH2O2. = 05666 × g H2O2 = 0.5666 g H2O24) 0.259 mol e- 5) d 6) d 7) b 8) d 9) Write the half-reactions for each process. Zn(s) → Zn2+(aq) + 2 e- Cu2+(aq) + 2 e- → Cu(s) Look up the standard potentials for the reduction half-reaction. Eoreduction of Cu2+ = + 0.339 V Eoreduction of Zn2+ = - 0.762 V Determine the overall standard cell potential. Eocell = + 1.101 V References
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