The electrochemistry of selenium and various selenium compounds in A1C18:NaC1 melts has been investigated by a variety of techniques including pulse and cyclic voltammetry, coulometry, and the rotating-disk electrode. It was found that selenium can be reduced, in both acid and basic melts, by a single two-electron step to selenide whic'h exists in the melt as either A1SeC1 or A1SeC12- (or their analogous solvated species A12SeC15- and A12SeC162-) depending upon the acidity. The mechanism for the oxidation of selenium to Se(IV) was found to be dependent upon the melt acidity. In basic melts, selenium was first oxidized by a two-electron step to an Se(I I) species and then by a further two-electron step to Se(IV). In acid melts the oxidation was a single quasireversible four-electron step. The reduction of Se(IV) to selenium was a single four-electron step at all melt acidities. The kinetics of these oxidation and reduction processes were investigated extensively. From studying SeC14 solutions, it was found that there were two Se(IV) species in
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Robinson et al. (1978) studied this question.