Abstract
Electrochemical measurements during irradiation can be made in studying chemical changes in an irradiated solution. Several papers (1-3) have shown that the changes can be measured quantitatively; the reduction products of radiolysis react predominantly on the platinum electrode, whereas the oxidation products react on the gold and mercury electrodes. In this work we have used the dropping mercury and rotating platinum electrodes for a direct and continuous measurement of the radiolysis products during the irradiation of aqueous solutions of oxalic acid, in order to check some aspects of the previously suggested mechanism of radiolysis (4). The measurement of the oxygen consumption was of particular interest, because it should be a measure of free radical yield, and its determination by standard gas analysis is possible only with considerable error. As the participation of short-lived products of radiolysis in electrochemical measurements is still a subject of some doubt (2, 3, 5), it was interesting to see to what extent the results obtained under our standard working conditions could be explained merely by the molecular products of radiolysis (H2 and H202) and the molecular oxygen. Investigations were done in air-saturated oxalic acid solutions (50 mM) in acid (pH 1.6 and 3.6), neutral (pH -7), and alkaline (pH -9) media.
Published Version
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