Quantifying the Oxidation Kinetics of Chromium (II) Dimer Complex

Abstract

Redox flow batteries work by converting chemical energy, from oxidation of one species and reduction of another species, into electrical energy. Chromium (II) was one of the species that was first researched for redox flow battery. Our research studies the kinetics of Chromium (II) oxidation to Chromium (III), using a UV-vis spectrophotometer to conduct a stop flow experiment. The observations for the kinetics experiment are consistent with the proposed two step mechanism. The reaction rate is only dependent on the release of Chromium (II), as it is the slow step of the mechanism, and thus neither the oxidant nor the concentration influences the speed of the reaction. Herein we report the synthesis of the Chromium (II) Acetate dimer complex and the resulting oxidation kinetics, when varying the concentration of the oxidant.