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Electrochemical cells have two conductive electrodes (the anode and the cathode). The anode is defined as the electrode where oxidation occurs and the cathode is the electrode where the reduction takes place. Electrodes can be made from any sufficiently conductive materials, such as metals, semiconductors, graphite, and even conductive polymers.
The terms anode and cathode are not defined by the voltage polarity of electrodes, but are usually defined by the direction of current through the electrode. An anode usually is the electrode of a device through which conventional current (positive charge) flows into the device from an external circuit, while a cathode usually is the electrode through which conventional current flows out of ...
The solvent, electrolyte, and material composition of the working electrode will determine the potential range that can be accessed during the experiment. The electrodes are immobile and sit in unstirred solutions during cyclic voltammetry. This "still" solution method gives rise to cyclic voltammetry's characteristic diffusion-controlled peaks.
The upper graph shows the current density as function of the overpotential η . The anodic and cathodic current densities are shown as j a and j c, respectively for α=α a =α c =0.5 and j 0 =1mAcm −2 (close to values for platinum and palladium).
The auxiliary electrode functions as a cathode whenever the working electrode is operating as an anode and vice versa. The auxiliary electrode often has a surface area much larger than that of the working electrode to ensure that the half-reaction occurring at the auxiliary electrode can occur fast enough so as not to limit the process at the ...
This method, in practical terms, is non-destructive since only a very small amount of the analyte is consumed at the two-dimensional surface of the working and auxiliary electrodes. In practice, the analyte solution is usually disposed of since it is difficult to separate the analyte from the bulk electrolyte , and the experiment requires a ...
Cathodic stripping voltammetry is a voltammetric method for quantitative determination of specific ionic species. [6] It is similar to the trace analysis method anodic stripping voltammetry, except that for the plating step, the potential is held at an oxidizing potential, and the oxidized species are stripped from the electrode by sweeping the potential negatively.
In a vacuum tube or a semiconductor having polarity (diodes, electrolytic capacitors) the anode is the positive (+) electrode and the cathode the negative (−). The electrons enter the device through the cathode and exit the device through the anode. Many devices have other electrodes to control operation, e.g., base, gate, control grid.