nyaamy p I L i If, COMIBUTIONS TO ELECTROSTATIC DUSTING: I. APPLICATION OF POLAROGRAPHY TO BUS? DEPOSIT EVALUATION, 2. EFFECT OF :omzao CURRENT INTENSITIES AND EFFECT os SHIELDING ON DUST DEPOSITION Thai: for the Dog!“ 05 M. S. MICHIGAIKI STAW ‘JHNERSITY Nguyen ‘E'u Ban I955 CONTRIBUTIONS TO ELECTROSTATIC DUSTING: 1. APPLICATION OF POLAROGRAPHY TO DUST DEPOSIT EVALUATION, 2. EFFECT OF IONIZED CURRENT INTENSITIES AND EFFECT OF SHIELDING 0N DUST DEPOSITION. By Nguyen Tu Ban K AN ABSTRACT Submitted to the Michigan State University of Agriculture and Applied Science in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of MASTER OF SCIENCE Department of Agricultural Engineering Year 1955 Approved by jULJCLQIZl.YK, CliifiLiég 6: Nov. “If: THEQIR "akehuutvo e Flaw. .7 IN. [Wu N.» .. . fll . .1...” 1. EM . I. - I? .I L‘l e. .m I deal. [2-3 ‘15,...3/ a Nguyen Tu Ban ” l The ultimate goal of the project on dusting and spraying, of which this study is a part, is the increase in efficiency of deposition and uniformity of coverage of plant surfaces by pesticides. The means to this goal is the utilization of electrostatic field forces. The specific topics covered by this study are: the application of polarographic analysis to the problem of dust deposit evaluation, the effect of ionized current in- tensities on dust deposition, and the use of an external electric field to increase dust deposition. A Sargent Model III, manual type, polarograph was used to measure the copper concentration of hydrated capper sul- fate dissolved in an aqueous solution. An electrolyte com» posed of 0.h M potassium sulfate and 0.01 percent gelatin, was found suitable for the evaluation of copper sulfate dust. Copper concentration as low as 1 ppm was readily measured in standard solutions prepared in the laboratory. The polarographic method of evaluation was then applied to the measurement of copper sulfate dust deposits on soy- bean leaves after field dusting. Five square inches of leaves -- ten square inches of leaf surface -- were punched into a wadlsolution containing potassium sulfate. The solu- tion was then brought to the laboratory and analyzed polaro- graphically. The method of evaluation was found satisfactory, both for the field work and for the laboratory experiment. Nguyen Tu Ban 2 The field tests on soybean plants showed, in general, no difference in dust deposits between well-exposed leaves and hidden leaves. Electrostatic dusting appeared better than the conven- tional method of dusting, although the increase in deposition was not as great as expected. The effect of current intensities, and the effect of shielding,were studied in the laboratory at sixty percent relative humidity. The shield, made of one-quarter inch hardware screen, was placed parallel to the dust collector disc. A potential of 20 RV was applied to the shield to produce the external electric field. Four dusts were used, and the deposits evaluated by weighing with an analytical balance. The results showed that for the micronized copper sul- fate, the Attaclay and the Attasorb, the dust deposits in- creased greatly -- as many as ten times -- with increased current intensities up to 150 microamperes. With further increases in the current, the increase in dust deposition was negligible. Standard copper sulfate followed the same trend as the other dusts. It showed a great increase in deposition around 500 microamperes, and a sharp decrease at 600 microamperes. Below and up to current intensities of 50 microamperes, shielding improved the deposition of standard copper sulfate and Nguyen Tu Ban 3 Attaclay, coarse dusts. Above 50 microamperes, the bene- ficial effect of shielding disappeared. Shielding greatly improved the deposition of the micronized copper sulfate, but it decreased the deposition of Attasorb. CONTRIBUTIONS TO ELECTROSTATIC DUSTING: 1; APPLICATION OF POLAROGRAPHY To DUST DEPOSIT EVALUATION, 2. EFFECT OF IONIZED CURRENT INTENSITIES AND EFFECT OF SHIELDING ON DUST DEPOSITION BY Nguyen Tu Ban A THESIS Submitted to the Michigan State University of Agriculture and Applied Science in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of MASTER OF SCIENCE Department of Agricultural Engineering 1955 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS This study would not have been possible without the assistance of many individuals: To Dr. W. M. Carleton of the Department of Agricultural Engineering, for his patient guidance, the faith he had in the author which was most helpful in facing difficulties with assurance, To Professor A. W. Farrell, for granting the research assistantship, To the Rackham Foundation, for providing financial support, To Dr. Andrew Timnick of the Department of Chemistry, for his guidance in the polarographic work, To.Dr. D. J. Montgomery of the Department of Physics, for his valuable advice on the conduct of the research, To Dr. W. E. Splinter and Mr. R. N. Brittain for ac- quainting the author with electrostatic dusting, To Mr. B. A. Stout, Mr. W. Bilanski, Mr. L. F. Sander- son, Mr. S. L. Hedden, Mr. Pio Angelini, and Mr. T. Kinjo, for their valuable assistances in the taking of data, To Mr. Nuredin Mohsenin for some of the photographic work, To Mr. J. B. Cawood and his assistants for their patience in familiarizing the author with the mechanical tools, To the Attapulgus Minerals and Chemicals Corporation for contributing the Attasorb, To Miss Alfreda Abell for her unselfish interest in the author's work, and her constructive criticisms during the writing of the manuscript, To the above-mentioned and to many others, the author humbly takes this opportunity to express his most sincere thanks e 133......(‘9- .5,(..14r . ,. 0.. O. n “F! n 4.. TABLE OF CONTENTS PAGE INTRODUCTION 0 O O O O O O O O O O 0 O O O O O O 0 0 Historical Background for the Study . . . . . . . The General Problem . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4?de The Specific Problem . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . THE APPLICATION OF POLAROGRAPHY TO THE EVALUATION OF PBSTICIDAL DUST DEPOSITS ON PLANT SURFACES . . . . . . BackgrOund for the Study . . . . . . . . . . . . . Definition of Polarography . . . . . . . . . . O‘O‘O‘Vl Theoretical Principles . . . . . . . . . . . . Polarograph Circuit . . . . . . . . . . . . . l3 Polarogram . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 Equipment and Procedure . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 Laboratory Investigations . . . . . . . . . . 18 Calibration Curves . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 Results . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26 Laboratory Dust Deposit Evaluation . . . . . . . . 2b Scope of the Polarographic Method . . . . . . . . 27 FIELD TESTS TO STUDY THE FEASIBILITY OF THE POLAROGRAPHIC METHOD OF DUST EVALUATION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26 Description of Equipment . . . . . . . . . . . . . ZO Dusting Equipment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26 TABLE OF CONTENTS (Cont.) Dust Evaluation Equipment . . . . . . . . . . . Plot Design and Procedure . . . . . . . . . . . . . Discussion of Results . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Merit of the Polarographic Method of Analysis . Dust Deposits Analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . Comparison of Top Leaf and Hidden Leaf Deposits. Analysis of Variance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Dust Deposit Efficiency . . . . . . . . . . . . THE EFFECT OF THE IONIZED CURRENT INTENSITIES AND THE EFFECT OF SHIELDING ON DUST DEPOSITION . . . . . . . . . Experimental Equipment and Procedure . . . . . . . . Laboratory Dust Chambers . . . . . . . . . . . . The dust feed Chamber . . . . . . . . . . . The dust feed mechanism . . . . . . . . . . The dusting chamber ... . . . . . . . . . . Charging Nozzle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Electrical Circuit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Electric Shield . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Operating Conditions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Experimental Design . . . . . . . . . . . . . . EXperimental Procedure . . . . . . . . . . . . . Discussion of Results . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Millipore Filter Dep031ts e e e e e e e e e e e Page 30 3O 36 36 36 37 ul LLS Le as us as TABLE OF CONTENTS (Cont.) Page Effect of Current Intensities . . . . . . . . 60 Effect of Shielding . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61 SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67 APPENDIX A - PARTICLE SIZE DETERMINATION . . . . . . . 69 Review of Literature . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69 Equipment and Technique . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71 Sampling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71 Counting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71 Results . 3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72 Average Diameters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7; APPENDIX B - EXPERIMENTAL RESULTS . . . . . . . . . . . 62 REFERENCES CITED . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91 LIST OF FIGURES FIGURE 1. Schematic diagram of an electrolysis apparatus . 2. Current-voltage relationships with (B) polarized and (D) unpolarized electrodes . . . . . . . . . 3. Schematic diagram of polarographic circuit . . . h. A typical polarogram . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5. H-type cell and saturated calomel electrode . . . '6. Polarograph assembly . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7. Polarogram of copper sulfate . . . . . . . . . . 8. Calibration curves of copper sulfate . . . . . . 9. Rear view of experimental duster . . . . . . . . 10. Side view of experimental duster . . . . . . . . ll. Plot design for field tests on soybeans . . . . . 12. Sampling technique . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13. Dust deposits on soybeans as a function of rates of application . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . lh. Dust deposit variation . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15. Dust feed chamber . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16. Feed end of dust feed mechanism . . . . . . . . . 17. Inside of dusting chamber . . . . . . . . . . . . .18. Dust collector disc and electric shield . . . . . 19. Two types of charging nozzle . . . . . . . . . . PAGE . 9 LIST OF FIGURES (Cont.) Inside construction of a single support type C O O O O O O O O O O O O O Nozzle charging apparatus . . . . . . . . . . . . Average Millipore filter deposits . . . . . . . . Charged currents versus applied voltages . . . . FIGURE 20. charging nozzle . . 21. 22. 23. 2h. Average dust deposits 25. Average dust deposits 26. Linear measurement of 27. Objective scale . . . 28. Size-frequency curve 29. Size-frequency curve 30. Size-frequency curve versus current intensities versus current intensities particle . . . . . . . . . O O O O O O O O O O C O O 0 PAGE TABLE I. II. III. IV. V. VI. VII. VIII. IX. X. XI. XII. XIII. XIV. LIST OF TABLES Polarograph Calibration Data . .-. . . . . . . . Average Values of Dust Deposits from Field Tests on Soybean Plants . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Analysis of Variance of Dust Deposits on SoybeanPlantB................ Dust Deposition Efficiency in Soybean Tests . . . Charging Nozzle Performance . . . . . . . . . . . Average Values of Dust Deposits Due to Charging or Charging and Shielding . . . . . . . . . . . Cumulative Size-Frequency Distribution . . . . . Average Diameters and Densities of Dusts . . . . Part1C13 3128 Data 0 e e o e e e e e e e e 0.0 0 Data of Field Tests on Soybeans Dusted with Standard Copper Sulfate . . . . . . . . . . . . Millipore Filter Deposits . . . . . . . . . . . . Data Showing the Current-Voltage Relationships During Ionization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Results of Tests on the Effect of Current Intensities and Shielding on Dust Deposits . . Arithmetic Mean of Dust Deposits on Dust COIlOCtOPDiscseeeeeeeeeeeeeeee PAGE 25 39 AZ UN 52 66 79 80 81 83 8h 85 87 89 INTRODUCTION In man's struggle for survival there is the fight against insects, fungi, and weeds, which destroy or hin- der the production of his food. The most used weapons in the battle against these foes are sprayers and dusters. Brodell, Strickler and Phillips (8) report that, in 1952, in the United States alone, about 29 million acres of farmland were sprayed or dusted an average of 2.86 times -- the equivalent of one treatment on 83 million acres -— to combat insects and diseases, at a total cost of about 193 million dollars. The application of these pesticidal materials at present is inefficient. Bowen (5) estimates that only ten to twenty percent of the dust discharged by dusting machines is actually deposited on the plant surfaces. Sprays are somewhat more efficient. According to Splinter (20), fogs are less efficient. It is apparent then, that any signi- ficant increase in the efficiency of deposition of pesti- cides would mean a considerable saving to the farmer. Historical Background for the Study In the belief that crop dusting is basically more sound economically than spraying, Bowen (5), in 1950, initiated the present research project in an effort to im- prove the efficiency of dust deposition, and the uniformity of coverage on plant surfaces, through the use of electro- static field forces. The work accomplished by Bowen, Hebblethwaite, Brazee, and Brittain, and the history of the project are reviewed by Splinter (20). Splinter (20) discusses the influence of particle size on the effectiveness of an insecticide or a fungicide, the various forces affecting dust deposition, and the results of laboratory and field work. His results were: 1. In general, reduction in particle size of pestici- dal dusts increases the effectiveness against insects and fungi. The smaller particles were also found less subject to erosion by rain. 2. An equation was derived with which, it is believed there can be calculated the effect of changes in application rate and in particle size, on the control of plant diseases and insects. 3. Of the forces considered -- gravitational, inertial, thermal, and electrical -- only those due to an electric field, caused by charged particles in an ionizing field, were found to be of potential importance toward effective deposition of fine dust particles. 35:1!»17‘1O viii; ¢.. 1 _ , The General Problem The ultimate goal of this research project, is the in- crease of deposition and uniformity of coverage of plant surfaces by pesticides. The means to this goal is the utilization of electrostatic field forces. The application of electrostatic charging to the de- position of pesticidal dusts, or, in short, electrostatic dusting, gave extremely satisfactory results in the labora- tory under controlled conditions. The field work, conducted only on an exploratory scale, has not fulfilled the eXpec- tations of the investigators. Extensive field tests have not been planned to date. It is believed that, before fur- ther field work is undertaken, it will be worthwhile to make systematic investigations in the laboratory to provide a sounder understanding of this problem. Among the topics still to be considered are the effect of resistivity of plants, the development of accurate meter- ing devices for dust at very low rates, the development of a fast, reliable and accurate method of evaluating dust de- position on plant surfaces, the effect of the dilution of the dust-air stream from the nozzle by surrounding air on the dust cloud potential, and the superposition of an elec- tric field on the field induced by the dust cloud itself. 11‘ Inlll’lll. 31‘1“. . .d w or . HLH. I: in“ n . ...;\~ 3.1 i ‘5'. The Specific Problem This study was conducted to investigate specifically: first, the application of polarographic analysis to the problem of dust deposit evaluation; second, the effect of the ionized current intensities on dust deposition; and, third, the use of an auxiliary electric field to increase dust deposition THE APPLICATION OF POLAROGRAPHY TO THE EVALUATION OF PESTICIDAL DUST DEPOSITS ON PLANT SURFACES Pest control by dusting depends, in the main, on two fac- tors: coverage, and retention of the pesticidal dust. For effective protection, plant surfaces must be well covered with dustl, but what this means quantitatively is still unknown. Hebblethwaite (1952) says: It is unfortunately a fact that at the present time biologists are unable to give a clear definition of what constitutes "100 percent coverage" and there- fore the engineer is in the difficult position of not knowing what his goal is. The degree of protection is customarily evaluated bio- logically. This method of evaluation is not always desirable because of the uncertainty of, and the time lapses between, infestations, especially in investigations on the methodology of dusting. The research worker requires a much more rapid method of evaluation, even though it may be less complete. It is only in the final analysis that he will need biological evaluation in the form of field trials. Many workers in the past have resorted to indirect methods of evaluation, either physical or chemical. The chemical evaluation seems to be prevalent (leaf printing to study the problem of distribution, 11n this thesis "dust" will mean pesticidal dust. ashing and titration for quantitative analysis, and others). Although methods in use may be accurate, a great deal of time is required to perform the evaluation itself. The following work was done in an attempt to provide the workers in electrostatic dusting at Michigan State Uni- versity with a fast, but accurate method for the evaluation of dust deposit. Background for the Study Definition of Polarography The polarographic method of chemical analysis, invented by Jaroslav Heyrovsky in Prague about 1920, is based on the unique characteristics of the current-voltage curves ob- tained from the electrolysis of electroreducible or electro- oxidizable substances in a cell at a dropping mercury elec- trode. Theoretical Principles The basic principle upon which polarography depends, is the production of concentration polarization. To illus- trate this, and the salient facts pertaining to polarography, consider the electrolysis apparatus shown schematically in Fig. 1. Assume that the electrolytic cell contains a very dilute solution of thallous chloride (say 0.001 M) in a relatively large concentration of potassium chloride gliruesh, «.51. SW, 1 le.--di,r. 2‘“ a, v ‘.. . .yiLtunI. (e.g., 0.1 M). Because oxygen is easily reducible, and its reduction current more or less masks the current of other substances, the cell is provided with a gas delivery tube through which nitrogen or carbon dioxide is passed to remove dissolved air from.the solution. C is a short length of platinum wire which serves as the indicator electrode. The other electrode P is a silver-silver chloride electrode whose area is large enough so that it remains depolarized when a small electrolysis current is passed through the solu- tion. An electrode is said to be polarized when it adopts the potential externally impressed upon it with little or no change in the rate of the electrode reaction, i.e., no change in current. The electrode C is of this type. 0n the other hand, a depolarized electrode is one that retains a constant potential regardless of the magnitude of the current. The silver-silver chloride electrode in 0.1 M potassium chloride behaves in this case very nearly like a depolarized electrode when the current density is small. When an ex- ternal emf is impressed on this electrode the reaction Ag+Cl-:AgC1+e will proceed either to the right or to the left depending on the polarity of the emf applied. The potential is governed by the concentration of chloride ions, and because this con- centration is relatively large, it changes only slightly with changes in current when the current density is small. If the chloride ion concentration were made very small 5 e.g., 10- M, then even a relatively small reduction current would increase the chloride ion concentration markedly, and the potential of the silver-silver chloride electrode would change considerably to correspond to the change in chloride concentration at the electrode surface. This phenomenon is commonly called concentration polarization. Suppose now that an emf is applied to the cell in Fig. l in such a direction that the platinum.e1ectrode is made nega- tive with respect to the other electrode. The solution is well stirred to minimize the changes in thallous concentration at the surface of the platinum microelectrode. The current- voltage curve obtained is indicated by OAB in Fig. 2. From 0 to A, the current remains very small. When the potential of the platinum.electrode has been made equal to the decomposi- tion potential of the thallous chloride in solution, (point A), a further increase in applied emf causes the reduction of thallous ion at the platinum electrode, 4. T1 + e = T1 and correspondingly the current increases rapidly. In other words, at point A or beyond, the platinum microelectrode is depolarized by the reduction of thallous ions. with in- creasingly applied emf, the current increases linearly in ac- cordance with Ohm's law. The slope EVI would give the resis- tance of the solution in the cell. J IL ' l G C P 6905 inlet L__] Fig. 1. Schematic diagram of an electrolysis apparatus. B .9— <2 w t 3 D k) 0 Applied emf‘ Fig. 2. Current-voltage relationships with (B) polarized and (D) unpolarized electrodes. 10 Suppose now that the experiment is repeated without stirrigg the solution. The current, instead of rising in- definitely according to Ohm's law after the decomposition potential is reached, eventually, levels off and becomes constant. This behaviour is illustrated by the curve OACD in Fig. 2. As the potential of the small electrode is made more and more negative, the concentration of thallous ions at the electrode surface is continually decreased. At point C the thallous ion concentration at the electrode surface is negligibly small compared with that in the bulk of the solu- tion. A further increase in the applied emf from.C to D can no longer appreciably decrease the thallous concentration at the electrode surface. The platinum electrode is then in a state of virtually complete concentration polarization, and the current can no longer increase because it is determined by the rate of diffusion of thallous ions from the bulk of the solution to a region of practically zero concentration. This results from the depletion of the thallous ion concen- tration at the electrode surface by the electrode reaction. The region CD is called a diffusion current region. Be- cause the rate of diffusion is prOportional to the difference in concentration in the two regions between which diffusion occurs, the diffusion current_i§_p;oportional to the concen- tration of thalloug110ng in the bulk of the solution. This ll proportionality is the basis for quantitative determinations by polarographic analysis. In the above experiments, a relatively large concentra- tion of non-reducible electrolyte (potassium chloride) was added to the solution in order to minimize the electrical migration of thallous ions. A non-reducible electrolyte added to an electrolysis solution in polarography is called a "supporting electrolyte". The rate of electrical migration of thallous ions depends on their relative concentration as compared with the concentration of potassium chloride, and on the transference numbers of thallous and potassium ions. A transference number measures the fraction of total current carried by a given ion in a solution (17). When the concentration of the supporting electrolyte is much greater than that of thallous chloride, the trans- ference of thallous ions is reduced to practically zero, and the current through the solution is carried almost entirely by the ions of the supporting electrolyte. The transfer of thallous ions to the cathode is then made entirely by diffusion, and the diffusion current is said to be diffusion controlled. If the electrical transference is greater than the diffusion current. The difference between the two is called the migration current (16). Because,-in many ways, the polarographic method of analysis bears resemblance to the electrolytic method, some 12 of the fundamental differences between the two methods are tabulated as follows: Method, Parameters Polarographic Electrolytic Electrodes (for electroreducible substances only) Cathode: Dropping mercury electrode or rotated micro- electrode. Anode: Mercury pool or saturated calomel electrode (reference electrode). Cathode and Anode: Platinum.or mercury electrode Currents measured Variables Current or measured with increasing voltage applied emf. constant Concentration Low limit 10-6 M. All concen- range . trations Depletion of electro- Practically Complete reducible substance unaltered. Duration Short, usually a few minute s . Until comple- tion of electro— chemical reaQLiQ . Current conduction between electrodes By migration of supporting electro- 1yte ions through solution, and by diffusion only to the electrode. Migration and diffusion 13 In the interests of simplicity and clarity, the fol- lowing discussion includes only electroreducible substances, thus the repetition of the two terms "electroreducible" and "electrooxidizable" will be avoided. Polarograph Circuit The electrical circuit used is very similar to the one for electrolysis, a schematic diagram of which is shown in Fig. 3. (For electroreduction an increasing negative emf is applied between the electrodes by varying the resistance R. The current for each applied emf is measured with a galvanometer G. The plot of current against voltage results in a polaro- grmm, Fig. u. Polarogram The limiting current (i) is the total steady current measured (Fig. h). The limiting current is reached when the reducible substance is reduced as rapidly as it reaches the electrode surface and its concentration at the electrode surface remains constant at a value that is negligibly small compared to the concentration in the body of the solution. Under these conditions, the current is independent, within certain limits, of the applied emf and is governed wholly by the rate of supply of the reducible substance to the elec- trode surface from.the surrounding solution. Golvonometer @ {v} Mercury R Cathode ‘ F 9/; Electrolyte Il'r. emf. | HI \ Anode Fig. 3. Schematic diagram of polarographic circuit. . flush-.1553 .I.§.n...7n. Me 1. .L .r I. m5?» .. .L “4‘ .\ I’v‘ lll Deflection Golvonometer 15 \ . , \ Mammum l i—‘- ”I ”- i l , i Half Wave 3 i Potential “X id i 'Limiting Current, i Fig. A. A typical polarogram. 16 0f the many factors influencing this current, four of the most important are: 1. 2. 3. The residual current (1r): usually very small and approximately proportional to the applied voltage, caused by traces of electroreducible impurities; The 'maximum?, a transitory and erratic current, the origin of which is not completely understood, but which is eliminated by the introduction of a surface-active material or charged colloids, e.g., gelatin; The migration current due to electrical migration of the reducible ions which is eliminated by the addition of an indifferent or supporting elec- trolyte in a concentration of at least 50 times that of the reacting material; (see page 11) The diffusion current (id) which indicates the concentration of the material being reduced. 1d 8 i - ir The diffusion current depends on temperature, viscosity, the ionic strength of the solution, and the characteristics of the polarizable elec- trode. The influence of these factors can be seen in the Ilkovic equation, derived for the dropping mercury electrode for constant temperature: 17 id = 607nD1/20m2/3 t1/6 where id is the average current in microamperes during the life of a drop of mercury, n the number of Faradays, D the diffusion coefficient of the reducible or oxidizable substance in square centimeters per second, C its concentration in terms of’millimoles per liter, m.the rate of flow of mercury from the dropping electrode capil- lary in milligrams per second, and t the drop time in seconds (16). This equation predicts a linear relation between the diffusion current and the concentration, the most important relation in practical polarography. The half-wave potential is characteristic of an electro- reducible substance in a known supporting electrolyte, and serves as the basis for qualitative identification of the substance. To reiterate, quantitative polarography is based on the complete concentration polarization (see page at» or the depletion of the concentration of the electro-reducible substance at the electrode surface by the electrode reaction which results in a limiting current over a range of potential. For a detailed study on polarography, the reader is re- ferred to the two volumes ”Polarography" by Kolthoff and Lingane (16). Excellent bibliographies of polarographic 18 literature may be found in the following references: 1. "Bibliography of Polarographic Literature," 1922- l9h5. E. H. Sargent and Co., Chicago, 1950. 2. "Bibliography of the DrOpping Mercury Electrode," Leeds and Northrup Co., Philadelphia, 1950. Equipment and Procedure A Sargent Model III polarograph, of the manual type, was used. The voltages and currents were read and recorded. These values were then plotted to obtain the polarogram. The H-type cells used were of a design (Fig. 5) suggested by Dr. Andrew Timnick of the Department of Chemistry, Michigan State Univer- sity. Saturated calomel electrodes served as reference electrodes. The cathodes were of the dropping mercury elec- trode type (Fig. 6). This type consists essentially of a capillary glass tube supplied with mercury from a reservoir. The apparatus was arranged as shown in Figure 6. Laboratory Investigations 2 was selected as a dusting Hydrated cOpper sulfate material to be used both for the laboratory and the field tests, because of its solubility in water, and because copper is a common element in dusting materials. 2See Appendix A for specifications of the dust. a E‘flllllulldiI-II-‘ I‘I $11533.“H . s e ..I . .l. 3“ 19 F180 5 Left - H type cell A - Agar plug B — Saturated KCl and calomel solution C - Solution for analysis Right - Saturated calomel electrode D - Agar bridge E - Mercury pool F - Saturated KCl and calomel solution G - Electrode filled with mercury In preparing the saturated calomel electrode, care must be taken that the platinum loop at the end of this electrode is well placed in the mercury pool and that it does not touch the calomel solution. 20 Emmawoamaom I m deoE Hamoumaaaaass I m Hams meant: I a . peace ammospaz I o Aeposwv enoepomae aeSoaeo nepwadpem I m Accoflpmov ouoapocac mqfidaoan Sanchez I < ”hansemmm squamoamaom e .mam 21 The supporting electrolyte found most suitable for this dust, was potassium sulfate at a concentration of 0.h M. Gelatin, at a concentration of 0.01 percent, was very effective as a "maximum" suppressor. Empirical calibra- tion curves were then constructed by analyzing standard solutions of known concentrations. Calibration Curves Because the calibration curves were constructed strictly on an empirical basis, the following conditions were maintained constant at all times, during the analysis for calibration purposes and afterward during the evaluation of actual test solutions: 1. Composition of supporting electrolyte, 2. Characteristics of the dropping electrode, i.e., constant m.and t values, 3. Concentration of maximum suppressor. A standard solution of copper sulfate (Cu SQh' SHZO) was prepared by dissolving 0.3928 gm of copper sulfate in water. Enough water was then added to increase the volume to 100 ml. The solution contained one milligram of metallic copper per milliliter of solution or 1000 ppm. Subsequent known concen- trations were obtained from this standard solution by dilution. To eliminate the effect of the migration current, 0.h M potassium sulfate solution was used as the supporting elec- trolyte. Gelatin at a concentration of 0.01 percent was used as the maximum.suppressor. a 13.7. .1: . . . ,3. Willi. <1 v. m I 22 A 25-ml. standard solution containing 10 ppm copper was analyzed, and its polarogram plotted (Fig. 7). This plotting was a preliminary step in determining the half-wave potential of copper in 0.h M potassium sulfate solution, and also in finding the potential at which the limiting current became steady. From this polarogram, the value of -0.u volts was selected as the applied emf for routine analyses. For routine analysis the complete plotting of the polarogram is unnecessary. During the evaluation, only the concentration of the reduced substance is measured, it being the only variable in the Ilkovic equation, other factors being held constant. Subsequent standard concentrations were then analyzed by bringing the applied emf immediately to -0.h volts and recording the galvanometer deflections. that is, high and low values from.which the average deflection was computed. The emf was next brought to zero and the galvanometer de- flections were again read and recorded. The second average value was subtracted from.the first one, and the result used in the plotting of the calibration curve. This was done to minimize the error due to the drifting of the galvanometer zero reading. Calibration curves (Fig. 8) were constructed using the data shown in Table I. Galvanom eter Deflection _ Cm. 9.0 8.0 7.0 6.0 5.0 4.0 3.0 2.0 |.0 IO ppm Half Wave Potential I : O ppni l i I l 1 I I 1 J —0.l -0.2 -0.3 -O.4 -0.5 -—O.6 ‘ Applied emf —Volts Fig. 7. Polarogram of copper sulfate in 0.h M potassium sulfate and 0.01 percent gelatin. all; DIRKI. )‘l e.» .n.1.l Pr . 8.0 e I» O O CuSO4-5H20 in 25ml. Solution, Wt. in Mg. n) 'O O SIO $5 52 SI 1 i l 1 LI 1 l L l J 5 IO IS 20 25 Galvanometer Deflection in Cm. Fig. 8. Calibration curves of copper sulfate in 0.h M potassium. sulfate and 0.01 percent gelatin. Galvanometer reading at 'Oeh VOlte .GoausHOm HS oooa sea do wS o.H u :0 End H mowmm..domzu Em .mo.m u no Sm H ..aouemm commae>mo D n a 8.3....éé 2.2 as 8.0 i“ as * Gus est: 0H.ea mm.ma am. a Nm.0 a . _ it oo.oa a~.0a 00.ma we. oI ma.0 _ a m _ H am.o 0H IIIIILII IIITIIIIIIIIIII I.II.I._TII..III a» m0.m~t mm. mm Hm.ma sm.o _ _ . m:.0 omsss>< 2 , .._l t m0.0m mm.mm mm.ma am.ma mm.0 . 0H.0m No.0H m:.~a . ma.e . m:.0 m I I I I I hI I I I I I I 1 I I I I I I L! I I I v I I I." I. 4.- I I I I I jRim ::.0a 0m.mH mm.0 a i .NH.H omssm>< mn.:~ a:.ma m0.ma mm.0 e i m0.a ao.:m oa.ma . aa.ma m mm.H m 0m.:~ ma.0a m0.ma 0:.w ~0.a m I I I I I .1. I I I I I I I... I I I I I I 1.! 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