Voltammetry on solid electrode — Introduction

The fundamental characteristics of an electrochemical reaction can be determined by measuring variations in current as a function of the potential applied to the terminals of an electrolytic cell. Experimental determination of the relationship between current and electrode potential results in figures called voltammograms. This is the subject of voltammetry.

In the [P 2 126v2] dossier, we present the theoretical basis of current-potential characteristics at a solid electrode, covering the kinetics of simple charge transfer on the one hand, and the intervention of matter transport in the stationary convective diffusion regime and in the pure natural diffusion regime on the other. We also show how chronoamperometry and chronopotentiometry derive from voltammetry, by referring to the corresponding files in the treatise. In the second paragraph of this first part, we present the implementation of voltammetric techniques (electrode materials, equipment, electroactivity range, etc.).

In the [P 2 127v2] dossier, we deal with the study of chemical phenomena prior to or coupled with electron transfer using voltammetry. Analytical applications of voltammetric techniques are presented for :

• thermodynamic study of reactions in solution ;

• the kinetic study of reaction mechanisms coupled with electron transfer;

• the study of adsorption phenomena.

In the [P 2 128v2] dossier, we discuss the refinement of voltammetric techniques and their evolution towards derived and/or impulse electroanalytical techniques.

In [P 2 129] , we deal with voltammetries performed with various electrode geometries, including ultra microelectrodes.