The most powerful oxidising agent is Flourine. It has the highest positive electrode potential value. Due to high electronegativity and high electron affinity, halogens act as a strong oxidising agent, enabling them to take electrons very quickly and easily from other elements and oxidise other elements.
Explanation
Halogens besides low dissociation energies and high negative electron gain enthalpies are strongly electronegative. They hence have a high potential to acquire an electron. They thus behave as powerful oxidising agents. The oxidising power of the halogens decreases on going down the group from fluorine to astatine.
- Fluorine is such a strong oxidising agent that it is difficult to conduct solution reactions.
- Chlorine is able of receiving electrons from both iodide and bromide ions. Those electrons will not be retrieved by bromine and iodine from the produced chloride ions.
therefore.
