Despite the growing popularity of cyclic voltammetry, many students do not receive formalized training in this technique as part of their coursework. Confronted with self-instruction, students can be left wondering where to start. Here, a short introduction to cyclic voltammetry is provided to help the reader with data acquisition and interpretation. Tips and common pitfalls are provided, and the reader is encouraged to apply what is learned in short, simple training modules provided in the Supporting Information. Armed with the basics, the motivated aspiring electrochemist will find existing resources more accessible and will progress much faster in the understanding of cyclic voltammetry.

A Practical Beginner’s Guide to Cyclic Voltammetry

The utilization of CO2 via electrochemical reduction constitutes a promising approach toward production of value-added chemicals or fuels using intermittent renewable energy sources. For this purpose, molecular electrocatalysts are frequently studied and the recent progress both in tuning of the catalytic properties and in mechanistic understanding is truly remarkable. While in earlier years research efforts were focused on complexes with rare metal centers such as Re, Ru, and Pd, the focus has recently shifted toward earth-abundant transition metals such as Mn, Fe, Co, and Ni. By application of appropriate ligands, these metals have been rendered more than competitive for CO2 reduction compared to the heavier homologues. In addition, the important roles of the second and outer coordination spheres in the catalytic processes have become apparent, and metal–ligand cooperativity has recently become a well-established tool for further tuning of the catalytic behavior. Surprising advances have also been made ...

Homogeneously Catalyzed Electroreduction of Carbon Dioxide-Methods, Mechanisms, and Catalysts

The fast-moving fields of photoredox and photocatalysis have recently provided fresh opportunities to expand the potential of synthetic organic chemistry. Advances in light-mediated processes have mainly been guided so far by empirical findings and the quest for reaction invention. The general perception, however, is that photocatalysis is entering a more mature phase where the combination of experimental and mechanistic studies will play a dominant role in sustaining further innovation. This Review outlines the key mechanistic studies to consider when developing a photochemical process, and the best techniques available for acquiring relevant information. The discussion will use selected case studies to highlight how mechanistic investigations can be instrumental in guiding the invention and development of synthetically useful photocatalytic transformations.

Mechanistic Studies in Photocatalysis

The pursuit of solar fuels has motivated extensive research on molecular electrocatalysts capable of evolving hydrogen from protic solutions, reducing CO2, and oxidizing water. Determining accurate figures of merit for these catalysts requires the careful and appropriate application of electroanalytical techniques. This Viewpoint first briefly presents the fundamentals of cyclic voltammetry and highlights practical experimental considerations before focusing on the application of cyclic voltammetry for the characterization of electrocatalysts. Key metrics for comparing catalysts, including the overpotential (η), potential for catalysis (Ecat), observed rate constant (kobs), and potential-dependent turnover frequency, are discussed. The cyclic voltammetric responses for a general electrocatalytic one-electron reduction of a substrate are presented along with methods to extract figures of merit from these data. The extension of this analysis to more complex electrocatalytic schemes, such as those responsibl...

Evaluation of Homogeneous Electrocatalysts by Cyclic Voltammetry

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Hyperspectral imaging for non-contact analysis of forensic traces.

This article details the procedural steps and their theoretical implications for a laboratory in cyclic voltammetry.

An introduction to cyclic voltammetry

Modern microcontroller boards offer the analytical chemist a powerful and inexpensive means of interfacing computers and laboratory equipment. The availability of a host of educational materials, compatible sensors, and electromechanical devices make learning to implement microcontrollers fun and empowering. This article describes the advantages of using Arduino microcontroller boards for lab automation. It also includes lesson plans and exercises for teaching how to use them in the analytical chemistry curriculum. Two of these exercises include acquiring data from simple spectrometers and the control of a thermal cycler for PCR. The versatility of these devices will make them another important tool in the analytical chemist’s toolkit.

Teaching Electronics and Laboratory Automation Using Microcontroller Boards

High-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) simulation software has long been recognized as an effective educational tool, yet many of the existing HPLC simulators are either too expensive, outdated, or lack many important features necessary to make them widely useful for educational purposes. Here, a free, open-source HPLC simulator is described that we developed. The Web-based simulator is uniquely sophisticated, yet accessible to a diverse user group with varied expertise in HPLC. It features intuitive controls and indicators for a wide range of experimental conditions, and it displays a graphical chromatogram to provide immediate feedback when conditions are changed. The simulator can be found at hplcsimulator.org. At that Web site, a number of example problem sets are also provided that educators can easily use to incorporate the simulator into their curriculum. Comments from students who used the simulator in an undergraduate analytical chemistry class were positive.

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An Advanced, Interactive, High-Performance Liquid Chromatography Simulator and Instructor Resources.

Obtaining absorption spectra from single textile fibers using a liquid crystal tunable filter microspectrophotometer

Besides being appealing to students the exercise described here gives them experiences in derivation methods that are often necessary in order to make nonvolatile samples amenable to gas chromatogr...

Gary A. Mabbott

Papers

An introduction to cyclic voltammetry

Teaching Electronics and Laboratory Automation Using Microcontroller Boards

An Advanced, Interactive, High-Performance Liquid Chromatography Simulator and Instructor Resources.

Obtaining absorption spectra from single textile fibers using a liquid crystal tunable filter microspectrophotometer

Qualitative amino acid analysis of small peptides by GC/MS