Electrochemical instability in facilitated transfer of alkaline-earth metal ions across the nitrobenzene|water interface

The facilitated transfer of alkaline-earth metal ions across the nitrobenzene|water interface due to the complexation with polyoxyethylene(40)isooctylphenyl ether (Triton X-405) causes abnormally large ion transfer currents across the interface. This reproducible anomaly due to the convective transport of the Triton X-405-ion complex formed in the vicinity of the interface is an example of the electrochemical instability, which was recently proposed for the transfer of surface active ions across the liquid|liquid interface, in the case of interfacial complexation. Well-known interfacial turbulences in the process of solvent extraction may be interpreted in terms of the electrochemical instability.