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Topic: What is the potential relative to in cyclic voltamettry?  (Read 1096 times)

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Offline showmetheway

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What is the potential relative to in cyclic voltamettry?
« on: June 05, 2020, 04:08:29 AM »
As a electrical engineer I am confused about how I need to apply the potential in an 3 electrode cell.

As I understand it an 3 electrode cell has an:
Counter electrode (Ce) which works as an anode
Reference electrode (Re) to regulate the potential
And a working electrode (We) that works as an cathode

In my mind this means that the potential should be referenced to the cathode.
In simple terms the potential stated in a voltammogram should be from the reference relative to the Working electrode. In other words when a positive potential is stated there should be electrons flowing from the cathode (We) to the anode (Ce) and of course the conventional current flow would be vice versa. Is this correct?
The confusion arises for me because someone suggested to me that a potential is from the We relative to the Re, and in my mind this is incorrect but I might be missing some information.

I'm having trouble finding any reliable documentation on this, there seems to be an information gap where the electronics meet the electrodes.

Any help would be appreciated.

Offline showmetheway

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Re: What is the potential relative to in cyclic voltamettry?
« Reply #1 on: June 12, 2020, 03:13:13 AM »
Update

My reasoning seems to be correct except that the We can be either the anode or the cathode depending on what reaction you want to measure at the We. So the potential can be applied from Re to We or vice versa depending on the appication.

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