Direct current cyclic voltammetry

One specific variant of the technique is known as direct current cyclic voltammetry (DCCV), in which the voltage sweep is over a limited range and a short time and is immediately reversed. The cycle is repeated many times and the pattern of current change is monitored. The technique uses relatively simple electrodes and is used to study redox reactions and there are a range of sophisticated variants of the technique. 

The kinetics and mechanism of oxidation of L-ascorbic acid by some cobalt(III) complexes, " manganese(III) complexes and a copper(II) complex have been studied. Direct-current cyclic voltammetry has been used to investigate the suitability of some ferrocene derivatives as mediators for ascorbic acid oxidation in aqueous solution at low pH. ... 

It should finally be mentioned that cyclic voltammetry at the ITIES allows for a precise discrimination between compounds of different charges, since the position of the peak currents depends directly on lipophilicity, since their intensity varies with Zj [Eq. 

Another evolution from the linear sweep mode is cyclic voltammetry, namely, a sequential combination of two (or more) linear sweep potential scans in the opposite direction for this reason, the current versus potential response supplies information about the reversibility of redox systems. 

Potential sweep relations consist of current-potential curves in which the potential is varied in a regular manner and the corresponding current is recorded. Cyclic voltammetry is this experiment but with the potential sweep—and the resulting current—plotted for the cathodic — anodic direction, followed by a sweep in the anodic —> cathodic direction. Several such diagrams are shown in the text. 

Cyclic voltammetry is one such electrochemical technique which has found considerable favour amongst coordination chemists. It allows the study of the solution electron-transfer chemistry of a compound on the sub-millisecond to second timescale it has a well developed theoretical basis and is relatively simple and inexpensive. Cyclic voltammetry is a controlled potential technique it is performed at a stationary microelectrode which is in contact with an electrolyte solution containing the species of interest. The potential, E, at the microelectrode is varied linearly with time, t, and at some pre-determined value of E the scan direction is reversed. The current which flows through the cell is measured continuously during the forward and reverse scans and it is the analysis of the resulting i—E response, and its dependence on the scan rate dE/dt, which provides a considerable amount of information. Consider, for example, the idealized behaviour of a compound, M, in an inert electrolyte at an inert microelectrode (Scheme 1). 

The most popular electroanalytical technique used at solid electrodes is Cyclic Voltammetry (CV). In this technique, the applied potential is linearly cycled between two potentials, one below the standard potential of the species of interest and one above it (Fig. 7.12). In one half of the cycle the oxidized form of the species is reduced in the other half, it is reoxidized to its original form. The resulting current-voltage relationship (cyclic voltammogram) has a characteristic shape that depends on the kinetics of the electrochemical process, on the coupled chemical reactions, and on diffusion. The one shown in Fig. 7.12 corresponds to the reversible reduction of a soluble redox couple taking place at an electrode modified with a thick porous layer (Hurrell and Abruna, 1988). The peak current ip is directly proportional to the concentration of the electroactive species C (mM), to the volume V (pL) of the accumulation layer, and to the sweep rate v (mVs 1). 

Then appears linear sweep rate voltammetry in which the electrode potential is a linear function of time. The current-potential curve shows a peak whose intensity is directly proportional to the concentration of electroactive species. If the potential sweep takes place in two directions, the method is named cyclic voltammetry. This method is one of the most frequently used electrochemical methods for more than three decades. The reason is its relative simplicity and its high information content. It is very useful in elucidating the mechanisms of electrochemical reactions in the case where electron transfer is coupled... 

The term voltammetry refers to measurements of the current as a function of the potential. In linear sweep and cyclic voltammetry, the potential steps used in CA and DPSCA are replaced by linear potential sweeps between the potential values. A triangular potentialtime waveform with equal positive and negative slopes is most often used (Fig. 6.8). If only the first half-cycle of the potential-time program is used, the method is referred to as linear sweep voltammetry (LSV) when both half-cycles are used, it is cyclic voltammetry (CV). The rate by which the potential varies with time is called the voltage sweep (or scan) rate, v, and the potential at which the direction of the voltage sweep is reversed is usually referred to... 

The kind of voltammetry described in Sect. 4.2. is of the single-sweep type, ie., only one current-potential sweep is recorded, normally at a fairly low scan rate (0.1-0.5 V/min), or by taking points manually. Cyclic voltammetry is a very useful extension of the voltammetric technique. In this method, the potential is varied in a cyclic fashion, in most cases by a linear increase in electrode potential with time in either direction, followed by a reversal of the scan direction and a linear decrease of potential with time at the same scan rate (triangular wave voltammetry). The resulting current-voltage curve is recorded on an XY-recorder,... 

For chemists, the second important application of electrochemistry (beyond potentiometry) is the measurement of species-specific [e.g., iron(III) and iron(II)] concentrations. This is accomplished by an experiment in which the electrolysis current for a specific species is independent of applied potential (within narrow limits) and controlled by mass transfer across a concentration gradient, such that it is directly proportional to concentration (/ = kC). Although the contemporary methodology of choice is cyclic voltammetry, the foundation for all voltammetric techniques is polarography (discovered in 1922 by Professor Jaroslov Heyrovsky awarded the Nobel Prize for Chemistry in 1959). Hence, we have adopted a historical approach with a recognition that cyclic voltammetry will be the primary methodology for most chemists. 

The oxidation-reduction behavior, ascertained by direct current (conventional) polarography, and its dependence on pH in aqueous solution of the [P2Mo18062] 6, [As2Moi8062]-6, and [P2Wi8062]-6 anions may be found in Refs.1S9 161>. The polarographic behavior of the dimeric 9-molybdophosphate anion of (NH4)6 [P2Moi 8062] was examined by cyclic voltammetry and alternating current... 

A very useful extension of the voltammetric technique is cyclic voltammetry (Adams, 1969 Cauquis and Parker, 1973) in which one scans the potential of the working electrode in an unstirred electrolyte solution in the anodic (cathodic) direction and records one or several peaks due to oxidation (reduction) of the substrate. At some suitable potential, the direction of the scan is reversed and peaks due to reduction (oxidation) of intermediates and/or products formed during the forward scan are observed. In the simplest case a linear increase (decrease) of the potential with time is employed (triangular cyclic voltammetry) with scan rates in the range 0 01-1000 V s 1. It should be noted that cyclic voltammetry at scan rates above 1 Vs"1 requires the use of a differential cell to reduce the residual current due to charging of the electrified interface (see, for example, Peover and White, 1967). The theory of cyclic voltammetry has been... 

Fig. 9.4. Linear sweep voltammogram for an irreversible system (O + ne —> R). In cyclic voltammetry, on inverting the sweep direction, one obtains only the continuation of current decay (-------------------).

Potential or current step transients seem to be more appropriate for kinetic studies since the initial and boundary conditions of the experiment are better defined unlike linear scan or cyclic voltammetry where time and potential are convoluted. The time resolution of the EQCM is limited in this case by the measurement of the resonant frequency. There are different methods to measure the crystal resonance frequency. In the simplest approach, the Miller oscillator or similar circuit tuned to one of the crystal resonance frequencies may be used and the frequency can be measured directly with a frequency meter [18]. This simple experimental device can be easily built, but has a poor resolution which is inversely proportional to the measurement time for instance for an accuracy of 1 Hz, a gate time of 1 second is needed, and for 0.1 Hz the measurement lasts as long as 10 seconds minimum to achieve the same accuracy. An advantage of the Miller oscillator is that the crystal electrode is grounded and can be used as the working electrode with a hard ground potentiostat with no conflict between the high ac circuit and the dc electrochemical circuit. 

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