Cyclic Voltammetric Studies of Ferrocene in Nonaqueous Solvents in the Temperature Range from 248.15 to 298.15 K

Abstract

In the present work the oxidation of ferrocene, Fe(C5H5)2, to the ferrocenium cation, Fe(C2H5)2 +, was examined in the solvents acetonitrile (ACN), acetone (ACE), N-methylformamide (NMF), N,N-dimethylformamide (DMF), N,N-dimethylacetanide (DMA), 3-pentanone (PEN), dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) and dichloromethane (DCM) over the temperature range from 248.15 to 298.15 K using the technique of cyclic voltammetry. The anodic (E pa) and the cathodic (E pc) peak potentials, as well as the corresponding anodic (i pa) and cathodic (i pc) peak currents, were obtained at different scan rates (0.02, 0.05, 0.08 and 0.10 V ·s–1). The half-wave potentials (E 1/2) of the Fe(C2H5)2 +/Fe(C5H5)2 couple in the investigated solvent media have been evaluated. The diffusion coefficients (D) have been calculated using the Randles-Sevcik equation. The effects of changing the scan rate, the temperature and properties of the solvent medium such as viscosity and donor number on the electrochemical behavior of ferrocene have been examined.