RATEOFDECOMPOSITIONOFHYDROGENPEROXIDE Lab Report

RATEOFDECOMPOSITIONOFHYDROGENPEROXIDE - Lab Report Example Therefore, hydrogen peroxide appears to exhibit a metastable characteristic in solution or its pure state (Egan and Nills, 2005). Oxygen evolution is rapid at room temperature and in concentrated solutions the released heat may increase the temperature so that an explosion occurs. On heating, hydrogen peroxide decomposes and it may be explosive. The stability of hydrogen peroxide at room temperature is attributed to the fact that the first step in its thermolysis involves the splitting of the molecule into hydroxide radicals whose formation demands much heat. Catalysts such as silver, gold, platinum, manganese dioxide act as heterogeneous catalysts whereas ions such as I-, IO-, OH-,Fe3+ or copper act as homogenous catalysts. Catalysis of hydrogen peroxide decomposition by iron ions is an important in redox catalysis. The steps in the process as demonstrated by Evgenil, Oleg and Gerts (2005), gives data on the mechanisms of redox catalysis. This decomposition is also important in processes in living organisms. The decomposition may be represented as below; 25 mL of the ten†volume hydrogen peroxide was dilute to about 200 ml with distilled water. A Dewar flask was rinsed with distilled water and then with a few mL of the dilute H2O2 solution. Hydrogen peroxide solution was added into the Dewar flask, and the solution temperature noted at a constant value. 10 ml of Fe3+(a) catalyst solution was added into the beaker while stirring gently. A stop watch was used to keep track of time. Thirty seconds after the addition of the catalyst, 10 mL aliquot of the reaction solution was pipetted and transferred into an Erlenmeyer flask containing 18 mL of 2 M H2SO4. The acid provides an acid medium for the titration and also quenches the decomposition reaction. 10 mL samples were draw from the reaction mixture at 5 min intervals and titrated with potassium permanganate. The titration reaction follows the