IDENTIFICATION OF ELECTRICAL COUPLING THROUGH THE ELECTROLYTE AS THE MECHANISM FOR SYNCHRONIZATION OF ELECTROCHEMICAL OSCILLATIONS

The mechanism of synchronous oscillations found for reduction currents on two Pt electrodes in 0.7 M H2O2-0.3 M H2SO4 has been investigated. Synchronization occurs even when the two Pt working electrodes are fa r apart from each other if the distance between the working and refere nce electrodes is large enough. The synchronization also occurs even w hen one of the working electrodes is separated from the other electrod es with an electrically conductive carbon box. These results clearly i ndicate that the synchronization is not induced by mass transport but by electrical interaction. It is concluded that the current oscillatio n in one of the two oscillation systems causes an oscillation in the t rue electrode potential for the neighboring oscillation system through the oscillation of the ohmic drop in the solution, which leads to the synchronization.