Oscillations and period-doubling bifurcations in the electrochemical oxidation of thiourea

Oxidation and Decomposition Kinetics of Thiourea Oxides

In this report the decomposition and oxidation kinetics of thiourea dioxide and thiourea trioxide are investigated with a reversed-phase ion-pair high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) method. The HPLC method allows us to simultaneously determine and quantify several sulfur-containing reagents such as (NH2)2CSO2, (NH2)2CSO3, (NH2)2CO, and SO3(2-) (HSO3-). Experiments illustrate that the decomposition of thiourea oxides is a first-order reaction, in which the rate constants increase with the pH of the solution. Oxidations of thiourea oxides by hydrogen peroxide are first order with respect to both reagents within the studied pH range between 4.0 and 8.0. Oxidation rate constants are measured under different pH conditions, which show that increasing the pH of the reaction solution significantly accelerates the oxidation process.

Dynamic Instabilities and Mechanism of the Electrochemical Oxidation of Thiosulfate

The electrochemical oxidation of thiosulfate is revealed to have two distinct oscillatory regimes in both linear potential and galvanic voltammograms, where various nonlinear behaviors such as period-2, mixed-mode and quasi-periodic oscillations, and chaos are observed under potentiostatic or galvanostatic conditions. Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy and iR compensation characterization indicate that, depending on the operating conditions, the system could be either a strictly potentiostatic oscillator or an S-shaped negative differential resistance oscillator. Chronoamperometry measurements reveal that the first oscillatory process involves a single-electron transfer, whereas within the second oscillatory regime the average number of electrons transferred is around 3.8. Measurements with capillary electrophoresis and chemical methods illustrate that the oxidation products include S2O6(2-), S4O6(2-), S5O6(2-), S3O6(2-), and SO4(2-).