Galvanostalametry: A New Technique, Based on the Negative Pressure of Liquids, for Investigating Electrochemical Phenomena at an Electrode

Abstract

A procedure based on the negative pressure of water has been used as a sensitive indicator for the study of electrochemical phenomena. The apparatus consisted of a vertical glass tube, closed at the upper end, which was evacuated and filled with an electrolyte. The latter remained suspended in the column in a metastable state of tension. The column of electrolyte was dropped by producing a minute amount of electrolysis between an indicator electrode sealed in the top of the column and a companion electrode which could also be at the top or in the reservoir at the bottom of the column. The time or current required to drop the column was used for making the following experiments and/or observations: (A) The decomposition potential of water was determined by observing the lowest applied voltage required to drop the column. (B) The time required to drop the column (on passage of a constant current) was proportional to the concentration of iodide ion in the electrolyte. (C) The current required to drop the column was proportional to the area of the indicator electrode, regardless of the irregularity of its shape. (D) The formation of the gas required to drop the column occurred in less than 15 µsec after closing the circuit.

The pressure, volume, and temperature behavior of liquid n-Dodecane at negative pressures

“…The most common is the slip gauge method of 2 measuring length, which is widely used in engineering metro logy (14). The galvanostalameter, invented by Sligh and Brenner (56), is a tension manometer that is used as an ex tremely sensitive indicator of the first appearance of gas in a liquid, in electrochemical research. Hahn's "spinner" has been proven useful for the determination of spontaneous fusion rates and for the detection of very low neutron flu xes (30).…”