Ye. Evstefeeva et al., PROCESSES IN HYDROPHILIC CHANNELS OF THE ELECTRODE MODIFIED BY A NAFION FILM, Russian journal of electrochemistry, 34(9), 1998, pp. 846-851
The electrochemical behavior of a Nafion film (NF) is determined by hy
drophilic and hydrophobic areas present in it. The redox potentials an
d kinetic characteristics of the electrochemically active substance, d
icarbolliliron (DCI), which is dissolved in these two areas differ. Th
e fact that the reaction occurs in both the hydrophilic and hydrophobi
c areas of NF determines the process as a whole. In this work, we empl
oyed the NF ability to collect hydrophobic particles in its hydrophobi
c area. That is why the hydrophobic part of NF was preliminary filled
with a chemically inactive particle, the [(C2H5)(4)N](+) cation. This
allowed us to separate the reaction of active DCI dissolved electroche
mically, which proceeds only in hydrophilic channels of NE The reactio
n kinetics proved to be close to that of the reaction on the NF-free e
lectrode. At the same time, evidence is obtained that the probability
of the formation of ionic pairs and their participation in the electro
de process increases in hydrophilic channels. This may he ascribed to
the influence exerted by the low dielectric constant of the fluorocarb
on environment in hydrophilic channels.