Potentials of Oxide Electrodes in Cells with a Zirconium Dioxide-Based Electrolyte in Mixtures of Nitrogen, Oxygen, Carbon Dioxide, and Carbon Monoxide Gases

Abstract

Measurements of steady-state potentials of various electrodes made of oxide compositions are performed in cells containing electrolyte ZrO₂ + 10 mol % Y₂O₃ at a temperature of 773 K in nonequilibrium gas mixtures N₂ + O₂ + 20 vol % CO₂ + CO, with variable CO (0.1–5 vol %) and O₂ (0.5–10 vol %) contents. After adding CO into a gas phase, potentials of all electrodes shift, to one degree or another. The shift is substantially affected by the O₂ content. The electrochemical systems under study are of some interest for analyzing partial pressures of CO in gas mixtures. The discovered effect must be taken into account when employing such electrodes for the determination of partial concentrations of other components of a gas mixture, for example, oxygen.