Polarography with a Mercury Pool Cathode in Stirred Solutions DOUGLAS J. ROSlE and W. DONALD COOKE N. Y.
Cornell University, Ithaca,
As part of a program for the development of procedures for determination of trace components, attempts were made to increase the sensitivity of polarographic methods. A large mercury pool cathode in a stirred solution was found to be adaptable to such work. Because of the low charging current of this electrode, it is possible to obtain polarograms of solutions in the micromolar range. The polarograms have the same shape as those obtained with a dropping mercury electrode but have no maxima, and the current fluctuations caused by the drop growth are absent. Studies were made of ion-metal, ion-amalgam, ion-ion, and molecule-molecule reductions. A rapid, simple method requiring no special apparatus is proposed for the determination of the number of electrons involved in polarographic reductions.
circulated through the external jacket. Seaford-grade nitrogen (impurities
