Simulation of the Polarization Curves for Oxygen Reduction at a Rotating Disk Electrode

The electrochemical reduction of oxygen in 1M NaOH solution is simulated at a rotating disk electrode. Steady-state polarization curves are presented for possible reaction schemes for the reduction process. The effect of changes in the kinetic parameters on the polarization curves is demonstrated and special attention is focused on the production of hydrogen peroxide

Oxygen Reduction on Silver in 6.5M Caustic Soda Solution

The cathodic reduction of oxygen in 6.5M membrane-grade caustic soda solution has been studied experimentally at a silver rotating disk electrode at 25°C. The results can be approximated by the parallel mechanism for oxygen reduction with catalytic decomposition of peroxide. Further analysis of this mechanism indicates that the sequential process with catalytic decomposition of peroxide predominates over the direct 4e– process. Direct application of the sequential mechanism to the data indicates that the latter mechanism with catalytic decomposition of peroxide much more accurately reflects the experimental results. The relevant kinetic parameters are calculated on the basis of the mechanisms presented

Analysis of Electrokinetic Data by Parameter Estimation and Model Discrimination Techniques

An alternative approach to classical methods of electrochemical data analysis is presented. This alternative method is based on nonlinear parameter estimation and model discrimination techniques. The method is used to obtain the relevant kinetic and transport parameters and to elucidate the kinetic mechanism of O2 reduction at carbon and silver electrodes in alkaline electrolytes

Linear Optical CNOT Gate in the Coincidence Basis

We describe the operation and tolerances of a non-deterministic, coincidence basis, quantum CNOT gate for photonic qubits. It is constructed solely from linear optical elements and requires only a two-photon source for its demonstration.Comment: Submitted to Physical Review

The Effect of the Tribromide Complex Reaction on the Oxidation/Reduction Current of the Br2/Br– Electrode

The Br2/Br– electrode reaction with tribromide complex formation reaction in the solution, a chemical-electrochemical (C-E) type reaction, has been investigated in order to determine the effect of the chemical reaction on the electrode kinetics. It is shown that the chemical reaction has little effect on the electrode kinetics at very slow homogeneous reaction rates, but has a more drastic effect on the electrode kinetics at faster homogeneous reaction rates. Also, the kinetics at the electrode are affected by changes in the concentrations of the active species (Br2, Br–, and Br3–) in the bulk solution as a consequence of the coupling effect of the chemical reaction on the electrode kinetics

A Computer Simulation of the Oxygen Reduction Reaction in Carbonate Melts

A computer simulation of the oxygen reduction reaction in various carbonate melts has been carried out under steady-state conditions on the basis of a proposed kinetic model which takes into consideration the autocatalytic reaction involving oxygen and other reducible oxygen species in the melt, and the neutralization of oxide ions by dissolved carbon dioxide. A simulation of the presence of (physically) dissolved oxygen, in the diffusion layer region of the melt, corresponding to the possible situation in porous electrodes, causes a significant enhancement in the polarization curves, particularly in the mass-transfer control region. On the other hand, high levels of dissolved CO2 in the melt reduce the current density in the mass-transfer control region by reducing the concentration of active dioxygen ions, but enhance it considerably in the kinetic limiting (CO2 neutralization) region. High rates of the autocatalytic and neutralization reactions display the same effects on the polarization curves as dissolved O2 and CO2, respectively, but to a lesser degree. Comparison of the simulated polarization curves in various carbonate melts indicates that Li-rich melts show the best kinetic performance. On the contrary, the highest limiting currents are observed in K- or Na-rich melts. Variation of the cation composition in Li/K carbonate melts indicates that melts of high Li-content should give better kinetic performance

Quantum process tomography of a controlled-NOT gate

We demonstrate complete characterization of a two-qubit entangling process - a linear optics controlled-NOT gate operating with coincident detection - by quantum process tomography. We use maximum-likelihood estimation to convert the experimental data into a physical process matrix. The process matrix allows accurate prediction of the operation of the gate for arbitrary input states, and calculation of gate performance measures such as the average gate fidelity, average purity and entangling capability of our gate, which are 0.90, 0.83 and 0.73, respectively.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figures. v2 contains new data corresponding to improved gate operation. Figure quality slightly reduced for arXi