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Analytical microelectrode voltammetry with minimal instrumentation
Author(s) -
Lafleur Rick D.,
Myland Jan C.,
Oldham Keith B.
Publication year - 1990
Publication title -
electroanalysis
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.574
H-Index - 128
eISSN - 1521-4109
pISSN - 1040-0397
DOI - 10.1002/elan.1140020309
Subject(s) - microelectrode , ferrocene , resistor , instrumentation (computer programming) , cyclic voltammetry , electrode , voltammetry , microcell , diffusion , analytical chemistry (journal) , materials science , aqueous solution , acetonitrile , chemistry , electrochemistry , voltage , chromatography , electrical engineering , computer science , physics , thermodynamics , engineering , operating system
The manual recording of near‐steady‐state diffusion currents at inlaid disk or shrouded hemispherical microelectrodes provides a simple and accurate analytical method for a variety of electroactive species in the micromolar and millimolar concentration ranges. The only instrumentation needed is a battery, a chain of resistors, and a battery‐powered picoammeter. A two‐electrode cell suffices. Ferrocene in an acetonitrile solution can be analyzed at concentrations as low as 2.0 μM, but the detection limits are higher in aqueous solutions. Using a simple microcell, as little as 100 pmol of ferrocene could be detected. This work resembles some of the earliest voltammetric studies, but the use of smaller electrodes provides a firmer theoretical foundation to the experiments.