Cyclic Voltammetry - A Versatile Electrochemical Method Investigating Electron Transfer Processes

Abstract

Three experiments are presented to introduce students to the capabilities of cyclic voltammetry (CV) for finding redox couples suitable for, e.g., battery development. The systems chosen involve only one-electron transfer, but already display complex behaviours that can be delineated with CV as being reversible, quasi-reversible, or irreversible, and the rate constants for the electron transfer can be estimated by the theory of Nicholson and Shain.