Proton effects in the electrochemical behaviour of 2-ethyl-9,10-anthraquinone in the medium dimethoxyethane-tetrabutylammonium hydroxide with and without oxygen

The electroreduction behaviour of 2-ethylanthraquinone in dimethoxyethane in the presence and absence of aqueous perchloric acid and oxygen was investigated by cyclic voltammetry on a vitreous carbon electrode. The range of pH studies was as wide as 17.3 to 1.5; it was possible to start at a strong basic condition by using tetrabutylammonium hydroxide as a supporting electrolyte. The catalytic reduction of O-2 to H2O2 has also been investigated in this medium on the same electrode. Our results show that the presence of 2-ethylanthraquinone in the medium can catalyse the reduction of oxygen, which can be observed through the shifting of the peak potentials towards less negative values. Copyright (C) 1996 Elsevier Science Ltd