Physical Electrochemistry

Physical electrochemistry addresses the broad area of fundamental electrochemistry.  This includes theoretical and experimental aspects of double-layer structure, kinetic and mechanistic studies of heterogeneous electron transfer at electrode-electrolyte interfaces, electrocatalysis, and the application of spectroscopic and other techniques to the study of electrochemical interfaces and processes. 

The principal electrochemical tool of the physical electrochemist is cyclic voltammetry.  The cyclic voltammetry experiment can be "tuned" to the kinetics of the electrochemical reaction by adjusting the scan rate.  Other techniques commonly used for research electrochemistry include chronoamperometry, chronocoulometry, and chronopotentiometry.  

For reasons that are unclear, physical electrochemists have not embraced Electrochemical Impedance Spectroscopy.

Electroanalytical chemistry is a complementary niche of physical electrochemistry.   There are a wide range of "pulse techniques" that are often employed by electroanalytical chemists.  These techniques include differential pulse, square wave, normal pulse, reverse normal pulse..and the list may continue ad nauseum.  Strictly speaking, the pulse techniques are rarely used for fundamental electrochemical studies.  But because they are incredibly sensitive compared to cyclic voltammetry, they can be handy to have in your electrochemical tool kit.  The pulse techniques can also be used in stripping voltammetry in which a solution species is electrochemically pre-concentrated onto an electrode surface, then quantitated using the pulse waveform.

Gamry products for the Physical Electrochemist are described below.  For more detail on any product, click on the hyperlink.

Potentiostats
For physical electrochemistry, we recommend either the Series G 300 Potentiostat or the Reference 600 Potentiostat.  If you think you'll routinely encounter higher currents, go with the Reference 600.  With the Reference 600, you'll be able to measure extremely low currents, which are routinely encountered with microelectrodes.  If your budget is limited, consider the Series G 300.  On balance, the Reference 600 is probably the best choice, since if measures both low and high currents equally well.

Portability is another aspect of instrumentation that electroanalytical chemists don't usually worry about. A portable instrument, however, can expand your electrochemical horizons...literally!  Run your Gamry Potentiostat with a Notebook Computer and you can easily take it down the hall or across the country.

Software
The PHE200 Physical Electrochemistry Software is perfect for, well, physical electrochemistry.  It provides cyclic voltammetry, linear sweep voltammetry, chronoamperometry, chronocoulometry, chronopotentiometry, and controlled potential coulometry. The PHE200 was launched in 2001, so if your current instrument isn't up to modern software standards, give us a call. 

You will also be interested in the PV220 Pulse Voltammetry Software.  The PV220 loads your electrochemical cannon with square wave, differential pulse, normal pulse, reverse normal pulse, and sampled DC voltammetry.  There's also a clever generic pulse technique for defining your own potentiostatic or galvanostatic pulse waveform.

Electrochemical Cell
You also might like the Dr. Bob's Cell, which we think is just what the above-average Physical Electrochemist is looking for.  Jacketed or unjacketed, macro and micro electrodes in platinum, glassy carbon, and gold, plus five ports for inserting various items into your electrolyte.  The Dr. Bob's Cell has a conical shape so you can run experiments on very low volumes.  

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