Electrochemical Analysis of Phenols through Charging of Phenol Solutions: A New Approach to Electrochemical Analysis of Phenols

Abstract

Five different phenols including catechol, hydroquinone, phenol, phloroglucinol and resorcinol were analyzed using a novel electrochemical method of analysis. This method exploits the properties of the phenols to store electricity due to their relative tendency for oxidation or reduction. By using two phenols half cells connected through a salt bridge made-up of card board resulted in the formation of an electrochemical cell. Phenol solution was used as anodic half and reference and sodium hydroxide as electrolyte in these investigations and the electrodes were made-up of the graphite. Optimum conditions and lowest detectable concentration of the phenols were also investigated. The voltage of the battery was found to have linear relationship with the concentration. It was observed that the method is sensitive to 5x10-4 molar concentrations of the phenols. This method is proposed for the determination of the antioxidant activity of the phenols due to the relative difference in the charging capacity and tendency to act as anodic or cathodic half.