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  Home > JCE Print > Journal of Chemical Education > Issues > 1996  > October  >
In the Laboratory
Zinc Electrodes and the Thermodynamics of a Galvanic Cell
Donald A. Probst, Giles Henderson
Department of Chemistry, Eastern Illinois University, Charleston, IL 61920
Cover
October 1996
Vol. 73 No. 10
p. 962
Abstract
Although zinc is commonly employed as an electrode in laboratory studies of galvanic cells, we find that under ambient conditions, this electrode may be poisoned by a surface coating on zinc hydroxide. The formation of a strongly adhering, non conducting surface film impedes current flow and causes measured cell potentials to ramp downward with time. Thermodynamic calculations and laboratory experiments confirm that this difficulty can be completely eliminated by buffering the anode electrolyte at pH = 4.0.
More Information
*  Citation
 Probst, Donald A.; Henderson, Giles. J. Chem. Educ. 1996 73 962.
*  Keywords
 Physical Chemistry
*  History
 Created:
Last Updated:		 September 22, 1999
February 21, 2006
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