The working electrode is the

electrode An electrode is an electrical conductor used to make contact with a nonmetallic part of a circuit (e.g. a semiconductor, an electrolyte, a vacuum or air). Electrodes are essential parts of batteries that can consist of a variety of materials de ...

in an electrochemical system on which the reaction of interest is occurring. The working electrode is often used in conjunction with an

auxiliary electrode The auxiliary electrode, often also called the counter electrode, is an electrode used in a three electrode electrochemical cell for voltammetric analysis or other reactions in which an electric current is expected to flow. The auxiliary electrode ...

, and a

reference electrode A reference electrode is an electrode which has a stable and well-known electrode potential. The high stability of the electrode potential is usually reached by employing a redox system with constant (buffered or saturated) concentrations of each ...

in a three electrode system. Depending on whether the reaction on the electrode is a reduction or an oxidation, the working electrode is called

cathodic A cathode is the electrode from which a conventional current leaves a polarized electrical device. This definition can be recalled by using the mnemonic ''CCD'' for ''Cathode Current Departs''. A conventional current describes the direction in whi ...

anodic An anode is an electrode of a polarized electrical device through which conventional current enters the device. This contrasts with a cathode, an electrode of the device through which conventional current leaves the device. A common mnemonic is ...

, respectively. Common working electrodes can consist of materials ranging from inert metals such as

gold Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile met ...

silver Silver is a chemical element with the Symbol (chemistry), symbol Ag (from the Latin ', derived from the Proto-Indo-European wikt:Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-European/h₂erǵ-, ''h₂erǵ'': "shiny" or "white") and atomic number 47. A soft, whi ...

platinum Platinum is a chemical element with the symbol Pt and atomic number 78. It is a dense, malleable, ductile, highly unreactive, precious, silverish-white transition metal. Its name originates from Spanish , a diminutive of "silver". Platinu ...

, to inert carbon such as

glassy carbon Glass-like carbon, often called glassy carbon or vitreous carbon, is a non-graphitizing, or nongraphitizable, carbon which combines glassy and ceramic properties with those of graphite. The most important properties are high temperature resis ...

boron Boron is a chemical element with the symbol B and atomic number 5. In its crystalline form it is a brittle, dark, lustrous metalloid; in its amorphous form it is a brown powder. As the lightest element of the ''boron group'' it has th ...

doped diamond or

pyrolytic carbon Pyrolytic carbon is a material similar to graphite, but with some covalent bonding between its graphene sheets as a result of imperfections in its production. Pyrolytic carbon is man-made and is thought not to be found in nature.Ratner, Buddy D. ...

, and

mercury Mercury commonly refers to: * Mercury (planet), the nearest planet to the Sun * Mercury (element), a metallic chemical element with the symbol Hg * Mercury (mythology), a Roman god Mercury or The Mercury may also refer to: Companies * Merc ...

drop and film electrodes. Chemically modified electrodes are employed for the analysis of both organic and inorganic samples.

Special types

Ultramicroelectrode An ultramicroelectrode (UME) is a working electrode used in a voltammetry. The small size of UME give them large diffusion layers and small overall currents. These features allow UME to achieve useful steady-state conditions and very high scan rat ...

(UME) *

Rotating disk electrode A rotating disk electrode (RDE) is a working electrode used in three electrode systems for hydrodynamic voltammetry.Bard, A.J.; Faulkner, L.R. Electrochemical Methods: Fundamentals and Applications. New York: John Wiley & Sons, 2nd Edition, 2000. ...

(RDE) *

Rotating ring-disk electrode A rotating ring-disk electrode (RRDE) is a double working electrode used in hydrodynamic voltammetry, very similar to a rotating disk electrode (RDE). The electrode rotates during experiments inducing a flux of analyte to the electrode. This sys ...

(RRDE) *

Hanging mercury drop electrode A liquid metal electrode is an electrode that uses a liquid metal, such as mercury, Galinstan, and NaK. They can be used in electrocapillarity, voltammetry, and impedance measurements. Dropping mercury electrode The dropping mercury electrode ...

(HMDE) *

Dropping mercury electrode A liquid metal electrode is an electrode that uses a liquid metal, such as mercury, Galinstan, and NaK. They can be used in electrocapillarity, voltammetry, and impedance measurements. Dropping mercury electrode The dropping mercury electrode ...

(DME)

References

External links

* Electroanalytical chemistry devices Electrodes {{electrochem-stub

Special types

See also

References

External links