On the application of an oxygen probe in chemical kinetics: The influence of the probe response on kinetic measurement

Membrance covered oxygen probes are frequently used to monitor the progress of chemical reactions involving dissolved oxygen. For reactions that are comparable in rate to the response of the oxygen probe it is difficult to obtain the correct kinetic constants directly from the probe signal with traditional kinetic data manipulation methods. In this article, we apply the method of impulse response function to describe the probe signal of an oxygen probe for three different types of simple chemical reactions. The impulse response function is obtained experimentally. Using the impulse response function we have obtained the relationships between the probe signal and the kinetic parameters of these reactions. The slow response of the probe has two effects on the kinetic curves of the reaction studied: a time‐lag and distortion of the shape of the kinetic curve throughout the reaction. The latter effect becomes significant when the reaction is fast. Procedures to obtain the correct kinetic information from the oxygen probe signal are described. © 1995 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.