Advantages and disadvantages of potentiometric titration
Answers
Potentiometric titration is a technique which is similar to direct titration of a redox reaction.
Advantages
1. It is useful for characterizing an acid. It is used in the titration of polyprotic acids, mixture of bases, mixtures of halides, or mixtures of acids.
2. It does not use an indicator. It is useful when there is no suitable indicator or where it is difficult to ascertain the change in colour.
3. The potential is measured across the analyte.
4. It is useful where the end point attained by the indicator is masked. For instance, if the analyte solution is fluorescent, turbid or colored.
5. It is useful where the process has to be automated and the end point data has to be stored in the computer.
Disadvantages
1. It is difficult to get accurate results.
2. Many other factors have to be taken into consideration to get the correct DDA (degree of deacetylation) values.
Potentiometric titration is used for measuring the change in the electrical potential when a neutralizing agent (titrant) is added to a chemical solution.
The main advantage of using Potentiometric titration method is that it is an inexpensive method. It uses small quantities of substances. These kinds of titrations are more sharp and accurate as the equivalence point is not determined by using colored indicators.
The primary disadvantage of Potentiometric titrations is that they are highly pH sensitive. Even a small extra addition of the titrant could change the pH drastically. Also, there could be errors while preparing the solutions or any contamination. Even exposure of the electrode to air or other substances before it is dipped into the solution can vary the pH reading.