Spectroelectrochemistry electrically conducting

Spectroelectrochemistry is one of the many facets of photoelectroanalytical chemistry. It can be used for numerous purposes in solving the mechanisms of electrochemical processes but especially with electrically conducting polymers it shows its main advantages. The original drive to study conductive polymers arose from the applications anticipated in the energy storage, but these polymers are also interesting from the analytical point of view as potential sensor materials. 

The special properties of OTEs that permit the use of transmission spectro-electrochemical techniques are often at cross purposes with the acquisition of reliable electrochemical data. The desire to have the superior electrical properties of bulk conducting materials, and thereby reliable electrochemical data, together with the power of a coupled optical probe led groups to develop various diffraction and reflection approaches to spectroelectrochemistry. Light diffracted by a laser beam passing parallel to a planar bulk electrode can be used to significantly increase the effective path length and sensitivity in spectroelectrochemistry [66]. 

By recording simultaneously the electric current and the absorption spectrum of a thin film of conducting polymer, a wealth of information on the characteristics of material is obtained. The methods of spectroelectrochemistry in connection with conventional electrochemistry in solution have been known for a long time. The measurement can be carried out in different ways. 

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