Chemically modified carbon paste electrode for chronoamperometric studies. Reduction of oxygen by tetrakis(.mu.-2-anilinopyridinato)dirhodium(II,III) chloride

The authors recently reported that dioxygen could be catalytically reduced by tetrakis(..mu..-2-anilinopyridinato)dirhodium(II) at an applied potential of -0.48 V in aprotic solvents. In order to extend these studies to aqueous solutions, a working electrode material was needed to disperse the water-insoluble dirhodium catalyst for electrochemical measurements. In this regard, carbon paste has several distinct advantages. In this study, they report the design and characterization of a chemically modified carbon paste electrode with a large geometric surface area that is easy to construct and convenient to use for chronoamperometric studies. The electrode is used to investigate the catalytic reduction of O/sub 2/ in aqueous solution by the electroactive dirhodium complex and allows the easy analysis of the generated H/sub 2/O/sub 2/ in aqueous solution.