Electron transfer kinetics of Fe(CN)63−4− on laser-activated and CN−-modified Pt electrodes

Shedding light on the calculation of electrode electroactive area and heterogeneous electron transfer rate constants at graphite screen-printed electrodes

We present in detail the most known and commonly used methods for the calculation of electrode electroactive area ([Formula: see text]) and heterogeneous electron transfer rate constants ([Formula: see text]). The correct procedure for the calculation of these parameters is often disregarded due to either lack of a minimum theoretical background or oversimplification of each method's limitations and prerequisites. The aim of this work is to provide the theoretical background as well as a detailed guide for the implementation of these measurements by impressing upon the electrochemists the parameters that need to be considered so that the obtained results are safe and useful. Using graphite screen-printed electrodes, [Formula: see text], and [Formula: see text] were calculated with different methods and techniques. Data are compared and discussed.

Electrochemical Redox Cycling Behavior of Gold Nanoring Electrodes Microfabricated on a Silicon Micropillar

We report the microfabrication and characterization of concentric gold nanoring electrodes (Au NREs), which were fabricated by patterning two gold nanoelectrodes on the same silicon (Si) micropillar tip. Au NREs of 165 ± 10 nm in width were micropatterned on a 6.5 ± 0.2 µm diameter 80 ± 0.5 µm height Si micropillar with an intervening ~ 100 nm thick hafnium oxide insulating layer between the two nanoelectrodes. Excellent cylindricality of the micropillar with vertical sidewalls as well as a completely intact layer of a concentric Au NRE including the entire micropillar perimeter has been achieved as observed via scanning electron microscopy and energy dispersive spectroscopy data. The electrochemical behavior of the Au NREs was characterized by steady-state cyclic voltammetry and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy. The applicability of Au NREs to electrochemical sensing was demonstrated by redox cycling with the ferro/ferricyanide redox couple. The redox cycling amplified the currents by 1.63-fold with a collection efficiency of > 90% on a single collection cycle. The proposed micro-nanofabrication approach with further optimization studies shows great promise for the creation and expansion of concentric 3D NRE arrays with controllable width and nanometer spacing for electroanalytical research and applications such as single-cell analysis and advanced biological and neurochemical sensing.

Synthesis and Characterization of Dense Carbon Films as Model Surfaces to Estimate Electron Transfer Kinetics on Redox Flow Battery Electrodes

Redox flow batteries (RFBs) are a promising electrochemical technology for the efficient and reliable delivery of electricity, providing opportunities to integrate intermittent renewable resources and to support unreliable and/or aging grid infrastructure. Within the RFB, porous carbonaceous electrodes facilitate the electrochemical reactions, distribute the flowing electrolyte, and conduct electrons. Understanding electrode reaction kinetics is crucial for improving RFB performance and lowering costs. However, assessing reaction kinetics on porous electrodes is challenging as their complex structure frustrates canonical electroanalytical techniques used to quantify performance descriptors. Here, we outline a strategy to estimate electron transfer kinetics on planar electrode materials of similar surface chemistry to those used in RFBs. First, we describe a bottom-up synthetic process to produce flat, dense carbon films to enable the evaluation of electron transfer kinetics using traditional electrochemical approaches. Next, we characterize the physicochemical properties of the films using a suite of spectroscopic methods, confirming that their surface characteristics align with those of widely used porous electrodes. Last, we study the electrochemical performance of the films in a custom-designed cell architecture, extracting intrinsic heterogeneous kinetic rate constants for two iron-based redox couples in aqueous electrolytes using standard electrochemical methods (i.e., cyclic voltammetry, electrochemical impedance, and spectroscopy). We anticipate that the synthetic methods and experimental protocols described here are applicable to a range of electrocatalysts and redox couples.

Hampering of the Stability of Gold Electrodes by Ferri-/Ferrocyanide Redox Couple Electrolytes during Electrochemical Impedance Spectroscopy

In the past decades, numerous measurements have applied electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) in an electrode-electrolyte system consisting of gold electrodes and the redox couple potassium ferrocyanide/potassium ferricyanide (HCF). Yet these measurements are often hampered by false positive and negative results. Electrochemical impedance signals often display a nonlinear drift in electrolyte systems containing the HCF redox couple, which can mask the accuracy of the analysis. Thus, this Article aims to elucidate the stability and reliability of this particular electrode-electrolyte system. Here, different gold electrode cleaning treatments were compared with respect to adsorption and roughness of the surface of gold electrodes. They show substantial nonlinear long-term drifts of the charge-transfer resistance RD. In particular, the use of HCF-containing electrolytes causes adsorption and corrosion on the gold electrode surface, resulting in a nonlinear impedance behavior that depends on the incubation period as well as on electrolyte composition. Consequently, it is strongly recommended not to use HCF containing electrolytes in combination with gold electrodes.

Quantitative electrochemical measurements using in situ ec-S/TEM devices

Insight into dynamic electrochemical processes can be obtained with in situ electrochemical-scanning/transmission electron microscopy (ec-S/TEM), a technique that utilizes microfluidic electrochemical cells to characterize electrochemical processes with S/TEM imaging, diffraction, or spectroscopy. The microfluidic electrochemical cell is composed of microfabricated devices with glassy carbon and platinum microband electrodes in a three-electrode cell configuration. To establish the validity of this method for quantitative in situ electrochemistry research, cyclic voltammetry (CV), choronoamperometry (CA), and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) were performed using a standard one electron transfer redox couple [Fe(CN)6]3-/4--based electrolyte. Established relationships of the electrode geometry and microfluidic conditions were fitted with CV and chronoamperometic measurements of analyte diffusion coefficients and were found to agree with well-accepted values that are on the order of 10-5 cm2/s. Influence of the electron beam on electrochemical measurements was found to be negligible during CV scans where the current profile varied only within a few nA with the electron beam on and off, which is well within the hysteresis between multiple CV scans. The combination of experimental results provides a validation that quantitative electrochemistry experiments can be performed with these small-scale microfluidic electrochemical cells provided that accurate geometrical electrode configurations, diffusion boundary layers, and microfluidic conditions are accounted for.

Electrochemical characterisation of graphene nanoflakes with functionalised edges

Graphene nanoflakes (GNF) of diameter ca. 30 nm and edge-terminated with carboxylic acid (COOH) or amide functionalities were characterised electrochemically after drop-coating onto a boron-doped diamond (BDD) electrode. In the presence of the outer-sphere redox probe ferrocenemethanol there was no discernible difference in electrochemical response between the clean BDD and GNF-modified electrodes. When ferricyanide or hydroquinone were used as redox probes there was a marked difference in response at the electrode modified with COOH-terminated GNF in comparison to the unmodified BDD and amide-terminated GNF electrode. The response of the COOH-terminated GNF electrode was highly pH dependent, with the most dramatic differences in response noted at pH < 8. This pH range coincides with partial protonation of the carboxylic acid groups as determined by titration. The acid edge groups occupy a range of bonding environments and are observed to undergo deprotonation over a pH range ca. 3.7 to 8.3. The protonation state of the GNF influences the oxidation mechanism of hydroquinone and in particular the number of solution protons involved in the reaction mechanism. The voltammetric response of ferricyanide is very inhibited by the presence of COOH-terminated GNF at pH < 8, especially in low ionic strength solution. While the protonation state of the GNF is clearly a major factor in the observed response, the exact role of the acid group in the redox process has not been firmly established. It may be that the ferricyanide species is unstable in the solution environment surrounding the GNF, where dynamic protonation equilibria are at play, perhaps through disruption to ion pairing.

Electrochemical Characterization of Platinum Nanotubules Made via Template Wetting Nanofabrication

Standard oxidation-reduction reactions such as those of ferrocyanide and ferrocene have long been employed in evaluating and comparing new electrode structures with more traditional configurations. A variety of nanostructured carbon electrodes developed in recent years have been reported to exhibit faster electron transfer kinetics than more traditional carbon structures when studied with these redox reactions. This type of comparison has not been widely explored for nanostructured platinum electrodes that have become increasingly common. In this work, a platinum nanotubule array electrode was fabricated via a simple template-based process and evaluated using the standard ferrocyanide redox reaction. The nanotubule array electrodes were observed to more closely approach ideal reversible behavior than a typical Pt black/Nafion fuel cell electrode or a standard polished Pt disc electrode. The apparent heterogeneous electron transfer coefficient was determined using the Nicholson method and found to be one to two orders of magnitude greater for the nanotubule array electrodes, depending on the diameter of the nanotubules, in comparison with these same two more traditional electrode structures.

Characterization of carbon nanofiber electrode arrays using electrochemical impedance spectroscopy: effect of scaling down electrode size

We report here how the electrochemical impedance spectra change as (i) electrode size is reduced to nanometer scale and (ii) spacing between vertically aligned carbon nanofiber (VACNF) electrodes is varied. To study this, we used three types of electrodes: standard microdisks (100 microm Pt, 10 microm Au, and 7 microm glassy carbon), randomly grown (RG) VACNFs where spacing between electrodes is not fixed, and electron beam patterned VACNF nanoelectrode arrays (pNEAs) where electrode spacing is fixed at 1 microm. As the size of the microdisk electrode is reduced, the spectrum changed from a straight line to a semicircle accompanied by huge noise. Although a semicircle spectrum can directly indicate the electron transfer resistance (R(ct)) and thus is useful for biosensing applications, the noise from electrodes, particularly from those with diameters < or =10 microm, limits sensitivity. In the case of VACNFs, the electrode spacing controls the type of spectrum, that is, a straight line for RG VACNFs and a semicircle for pNEAs. In contrast to microdisks, pNEAs showed almost insignificant noise even at small perturbations (10 mV). Second, only pNEAs showed linearity as the amplitude of the sinusoidal signal was increased from 10 to 100 mV. The ability to apply large amplitudes reduces the stochastic errors, provides high stability, and improves signal-to-noise (S/N) ratio. This new class of nanoelectrochemical system using carbon pNEAs offers unique properties such as semicircle spectra that fit into simple circuits, high S/N ratio, linearity, and tailor-made spectra for specific applications by controlling electrode size, spacing, and array size.

Fabrication of Stable, Highly Flat Gold Film Electrodes with an Effective Thickness on the Order of 10 nm

Stable gold film electrodes were fabricated by a combination of sputtered gold and an epoxy adhesion layer on a glass substrate using the template-stripped technique. An XRR scan analysis indicated the thickness and roughness of the gold layer to be on the order of 10 nm and subnanometer, respectively. In spite of their small thickness, the electrode had sufficient conductivity and stuck to the subject during the electrochemical measurements as did the usual gold working electrodes.

Electrochemical Impedance Spectroscopy Investigations of a Microelectrode Behavior in a Thin-Layer Cell: Experimental and Theoretical Studies

Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy experiments were performed on a microdisk electrode in a thin-layer cell using a scanning electrochemical microscope for controlling the cell geometry. Experimental data showed that when the thin-layer thickness diminished, an additional low-frequency response appeared. It was ascribed to the radial diffusion of the electroactive species and was strongly dependent on the thin-layer dimensions (both thickness and diameter). Moreover, the numerical simulation of the impedance diagrams by finite element method calculations confirmed this behavior. An equivalent circuit based on a Randles-type circuit was proposed. Thus, the diffusion was described by introducing two electrical elements: one for the spherical diffusion and the other for the radial contribution. A nonlinear Simplex algorithm was used, and this circuit was shown to fit the impedance diagrams with a good accuracy.

High Frequency Faradaic Rectification Voltammetry at Microelectrodes

An experimental setup for carrying out faradaic rectification measurements at micrometer-sized electrodes under potential control is described. A new method of data analysis is proposed that allows the determination of the standard rate constant and the electron-transfer coefficient of a fast charge transfer process without knowing the impedance of the microelectrode. This method is based on the frequency dependence of the shape of the faradaic rectification voltammograms (i.e., the average width of the peaks and the ratio of the peak heights) rather than on the magnitude of the faradaic rectification signal. The method was tested in the determination of heterogeneous electron transfer kinetics of Fe(CN)6(3-/4-) and Ru(NH3)6(2+/3+) in aqueous solutions on a platinum microelectrode (12.5 microm in radius) and ferrocene/ferrocinum redox couple in a dimethylformamide solution on a gold microelectrode (12.5 microm in radius).

Raman Studies on the Interaction of the Reactants with the Platinum Nanoparticle Surface during the Nanocatalyzed Electron Transfer Reaction

Raman studies are conducted to understand the specific interactions between the individual reactants and the platinum nanoparticle surface during the nanocatalyzed electron transfer reaction between hexacyanoferrate (III) ions and thiosulfate ions. When Pt nanoparticles are added to the thiosulfate ion solution, a shift in the symmetric SS stretching mode is observed compared to the frequency observed for the free thiosulfate ions in solution, suggesting that binding to the Pt nanoparticle surface occurs via the S- ion. It is also observed that there are no shifts in the symmetric and asymmetric OSO bending or SO stretching frequencies. This suggests that the thiosulfate ions do not bind to the nanoparticle surface via the O- ion. When platinum nanoparticles are added to the hexacyanoferrate(III) ion solution, evidence is found for both adsorbed hexacyanoferrate(III) ions and a platinum cyanide complex. For adsorbed hexacyanoferrate(III) ions, the CN stretching frequency is observed at 2101 cm(-1) and the Fe-C stretching frequency is found at 368 cm(-1). The observed CN stretching frequencies located at 2147 and 2167 cm(-1) provide strong evidence that there is a Pt(CN)4(2-) platinum cyanide complex formed. In addition, the Pt-CN band is also observed at 2054 cm(-1). These observed bands provide spectroscopic evidence that the hexacyanoferrate(III) ions dissolve by forming a complex with the surface platinum atoms of the nanoparticles. Raman spectra of the product mixtures are obtained after the completion of the reaction when carried out with higher reactant concentrations to observe the Raman spectra, but with a similar 10:1 ratio of thiosulfate to hexacyanoferrate(III) ions as used previously, with and without PVP-Pt nanoparticles at a correspondingly higher concentration. It is observed that there are no shifts in the characteristic Raman bands associated with hexacyanoferrate(II) ions and no evidence for the formation of adsorbed hexacyanoferrate(II) species or platinum cyanide complexes in the presence of the platinum nanoparticles. In addition, there is evidence for the shifted symmetric SS stretching mode, suggesting that some of the unreacted thiosulfate (present in large excess) is bound to the Pt nanoparticle surface. Thus, under the actual reaction conditions, the hexacyanoferrate(III) ions preferentially react with adsorbed thiosulfate ions to form the reaction products, and this supports the surface catalytic mechanism we proposed previously.