Description

The worldwide use of volatile organic compounds and halogenated organic compounds is estimated to be more than 30 billion pounds per year. Organic halides, especially, chlorofluorocarbons, polychloroethenes, polychloroethanes, and polychloromethanes form one of the main groups of environmental pollutants present in the soils and underground waters of many industrial sites. The contamination due to these pollutants is particularly dangerous in view of their toxicity and carcinogenic character. Among several strategies, electrochemical methods are efficient for the analysis of electron transfer-bond breaking problems in view of simplicity, ease of experimentation, and possible generalizations. The monograph starts with a brief account on the theoretical principles involved in the reductive cleavage of carbon-halogen bonds and the main experimental methods used in the analysis, viz. cyclic voltammetry and convolution potential sweep voltammetry. Other chapters describe the application of above principles and methods in evaluating thermodynamic and kinetic parameters of the reactions.