• Analytical Science and Technology
• /
• v.9 no.3
• /
• pp.292-301
• /
• 1996

The synthesis of poly(ether)tailed bipyridine complex as redox reaction probes has advanced attempts to interpret very slow diffusion and heterogeneous electron transfer. Diffusion coefficients as low as $1.5{\times}10^{-15}cm^2/s$ have been observed for the oxidation of neat $Co(bpy(ppgm)_2)_{3^-}(ClO_4)_2$ with $LiClO_4$ electrolyte. Heterogeneous electron transfer rate constants of materials were found to vary with diffusion coefficient. The decrease in k as the diffusion coefficient decreases was actually caused by the decreasing D. Diffusion coefficient for compound of strong ion pairing anion($ClO{_4}^-$) was much smaller than the diffusion coefficient for compound of weak ion pairing anion($CF_3COO^-$).