The future tasks of electrochemistry: a personal view

Journal of Solid State Electrochemistry -     

Past, present and future of nucleic acids electrochemistry

Electrochemistry of nucleic acids was discovered about 40 years ago. During the first 15 years electrochemistry brought early evidence of DNA premelting and polymorphy of the DNA double helix. At present electrochemical methods working with stationary electrodes are able to detect DNA at attomol and in some cases, even at lower levels. A great progress in the development of electrochemical sensors for DNA hybridization and DNA damage achieved in recent years suggests that these sensors may soon become important tools in medicine and other areas of practical life of the 21st century.     

Some unusual features of the electrochemistry of silver in aqueous base

Multilayer oxide films were grown on silver in base by repetitive potential cycling; however, the type of oxide obtained, as assessed on the basis of its reduction behaviour, was dependent on the lower limit of the oxide growth cycles. Using limits of 1.03–2.60 V (RHE) the oxide film produced was assumed to be predominantly Ag₂O; reduction of the latter yielded a cathodic peak at ca. 0.8 V and a surface layer of silver microparticles of diameter ranging from ca. 100 to 227 nm which, although relatively stable, were prone to rapid, extensive reoxidation. Altering the oxide growth limits to 0.7–2.60 V resulted in the growth of a different type of oxide deposit which is assumed to be AgOH; reduction of the latter occurred in a negative sweep in a random manner, i.e. in the form of cathodic spikes extending to potentials as low as ca. –0.5 V. Both types of silver oxide species are assumed to be involved in premonolayer oxidation and electrocatalysis at silver in base and the nature of the former process is discussed in some detail. Electronic Publication     

Materials science aspects of the research directions of electrochemistry

Journal of Solid State Electrochemistry - This opinion article summarizes a few electrochemical research directions whose weight is likely to increase in the near future. Connection between...     

Some basic electrochemistry and the cold nuclear fusion of deuterium

The role of electrochemistry in the discovery and interpretation of the alleged cold nuclear fusion is discussed.     

Biomimetics: a new research opportunity for surface electrochemistry

Journal of Solid State Electrochemistry -     

Challenges of electrochemistry research in Central Africa: The case of Cameroon

Electrochemistry is defined as the science which permits the transformation of matter using electricity. For many decades, this branch of chemistry has allowed substantial development in western world industries. The most emblematic example is the development of batteries, devices that find applications in almost all domains of our daily life. This review aims to focus on the state of electrochemistry in Central Africa; how electrochemistry is taught and used to improve the daily life of the population in Central Africa are the questions that we will endeavor to answer. We will scrutinize the different research groups in Central Africa having electrochemistry as their first line of research and an evaluation of their achievements so far will be performed, in addition to analyzing their societal impact.     

The electrochemistry of activated carbonaceous materials: past, present, and future

Carbonaceous materials are widely used in electrochemistry. All allotropic forms of carbons??graphite, glassy carbon, amorphous carbon, fullerenes, nanotubes, and doped diamond??are used as important electrode materials in all fields of modern electrochemistry. Examples include graphite and amorphous carbons as anode materials in high-energy density rechargeable Li batteries, porous carbon electrodes in sensors and fuel cells, nano-amorphous carbon as a conducting agent in many kinds of composite electrodes (e.g., cathodes based on intercalation inorganic host materials for batteries), glassy carbon and doped diamond as stable robust and high stability electrode materials for all aspects of basic electrochemical studies, and more. Amorphous carbons can be activated to form very high specific surface area (yet stable) electrode materials which can be used for electrostatic energy storage and conversion [electrical double-layer capacitors (EDLC)] and separation techniques based on electro-adsorption, such as water desalination by capacitive de-ionization (CDI). Apart from the many practical aspects of activated carbon electrodes, there are many highly interesting and important basic aspects related to their study, including transport phenomena, molecular sieving behavior, correlation between electrochemical behavior and surface chemistry, and more. In this article, we review several important aspects related to these electrode materials, in a time perspective (past, present, and future), with the emphasis on their importance to EDLC devices and CDI processes.     

Towards a comprehensive theory of lyoluminescence in alkali halide crystals: Some results and some perspectives for future research

Lyoluminescence is an interesting tool to study irradiation defects in solids and their behaviour after dissolution. A general kinetic scheme of the process valid for alkali halide crystals is presented, and some ideas about structure and properties of the interacting species, in the solid as well as in the liquid phase, are discussed.     

The oligomeric approach – the electrochemistry of conducting polymers in the light of recent research

Electrochemical investigations on oligomeric model compounds (β-carotenoids) of polyacetylene varying the chain length in the range between 5 and 23 double bonds provide deeper insights into the redox properties of such systems. Furthermore, cyclic voltammetric studies of α,ω-diphenylpolyenes and phenylenevinylenes give clear evidence that the formation of the radical ions is followed by a rapid reversible dimerization between the oligomeric chains. The thermodynamic and kinetic parameters of the chemical reaction are presented. Applying these results to the properties of conducting polymers opens up new perspectives for interpreting charge storage and conductivity. Received: 27 May 1997 / Accepted: 6 October 1997     

Nano-scale effects in electrochemistry

We report combined scanning tunneling microscopy and electrochemical reactivity measurements on individual palladium nanoparticles supported on a gold surface. It is shown that the catalytic activity towards electrochemical proton reduction is enhanced by more than two orders of magnitude as the diameter of the palladium particles parallel to the support surface decreases from 200 to 6 nm. Density functional theory (DFT) calculations combined with molecular dynamics (MD) simulations have been used to investigate the origin of the effect. It is concluded that the size effect is given by the thickness-variation of the support-induced strain at the surface of the palladium nanoparticles.     

Stochasticity in single-entity electrochemistry

Most electrochemical processes are stochastic and discrete in nature. Yet experimental observables, for example, i vs E, are typically smooth and deterministic, because of many events/processes, for example, electron transfers, being averaged together. However, when the number of entities measured approaches a few or even one, stochasticity frequently emerges. Yet all is not lost! Probabilistic and statistical interpretation can generate insights matching or superseding those from macroscale/ensemble measurements, revealing phenomena that were hitherto averaged over. Herein, we review recent literature examples of stochastic processes in single-entity electrochemistry, highlighting strategies for interpreting stochasticity, contrasting them with macroscale measurements and describing the insights generated.     

Gold twin-electrodes in thin-layer electrochemistry

The characteristics of a gold twin-electrode system in a thin-layer cell containing 0.1 M perchloric acid, and varying amounts of sodium chloride, were investigated by triangular sweep voltammetry. The “adsorbed oxygen” layer starts to form above 1 V, and the peak from reduction of this layer shifts from 0.88 V to 0.65 V on changing the turn-around potential from 1.02 to 2.0 V. A distinct adsorption peak appears at 0.5 V, with cathodic peaks at 0.4 V and -0.1 V. Chloride adsorption is observed at 0.6 V, with desorption at 0.4 V. The dissolution of the gold electrode to gold(III) chloride occurs at 1.1 V; but this reaction is blocked above 1.2 V by the formation of the “adsorbed oxygen” layer. The peak from the reduction of the gold(III) chloride is located at 0.7 V and is separable from the “adsorbed oxygen” reduction peak. The electrode surface obtained from the reduction of gold(III) chloride shows characteristics different from those obtained by the reduction of the “adsorbed oxygen” layer.     

Some past achievements and future perspectives in main group chemistry

A survey of some recent developments and past achievements in low-valent main group chemistry is presented. Some emerging implications of this area of chemistry in materials science, catalysis and new reagent development are also discussed.     

Changing face of electrochemistry

Over 200 years of development of modern electrochemistry was divided into five periods. Period I from the beginning up to the end of nineteenth century, Period II from 1901 to 1945, Period III from 1946 to 1965, Period IV from 1966 to 1990, and the last Period V from 1991 till the present. This division is based on (1) use of different research methods in these periods, as well as (2) different intensity and organization of research work. In each period, the main research interests were briefly characterized, followed by short discussion of the main achievements. The expected trends of future development of electrochemistry were also briefly discussed.