Study of the autocatalytic chlorate–triiodide reaction in acidic and neutral media

The oxidation reaction of triiodide, I3−, by chlorate is investigated in a slightly acidic and neutral media. The reaction was verified and monitored both potentiometrically and spectrophotometrically. Generally, a slow linear decay preceded by an induction period was observed for the triiodide concentration following the addition of chlorate. The induction period is likely to be related to the time required for the generation of suitable concentrations of plausible intermediates (HIO and HIO2), which are assumed to auto-catalyse the reaction. We examined the effect of acidity and concentrations of both chlorate and triiodide on the induction time for this reaction. The acidity of the medium influenced the induction period, while the oxidation of iodide by chlorate competed with that of iodine as the medium acidity increased, making the reaction more complicated. Therefore, a suitable pH is highly recommended for studying the chlorate–triiodide reaction. A plausible mechanism involving the HIO, HIO2, and I2O species is proposed.