Working electrode

Electrode on which an electrochemical reaction occurs

In electrochemistry, the working electrode is the electrode in an electrochemical system on which the reaction of interest is occurring.[1][2][3] The working electrode is often used in conjunction with an auxiliary electrode, and a reference electrode 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 or anodic, respectively. Common working electrodes can consist of materials ranging from noble metals such as gold or platinum, to inert carbon such as glassy carbon, boron-doped diamond[4] or pyrolytic carbon, and mercury drop and film electrodes.[5] Chemically modified electrodes are employed for the analysis of both organic and inorganic samples.

## Special types

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* Ultramicroelectrode (UME)
* Rotating disk electrode (RDE)
* Rotating ring-disk electrode (RRDE)
* Hanging mercury drop electrode (HMDE)
* Dropping mercury electrode (DME)

## See also

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* Auxiliary electrode
* Electrochemical cell
* Electrochemistry
* Electrode potential
* Electrosynthesis
* Reference electrode
* Voltammetry

## References

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1. ^ Kissinger, Peter; William R. Heineman (1996-01-23). Laboratory Techniques in Electroanalytical Chemistry, Second Edition, Revised and Expanded (2 ed.). CRC. ISBN 978-0-8247-9445-3.
2. ^ Bard, Allen J.; Larry R. Faulkner (2000-12-18). Electrochemical Methods: Fundamentals and Applications (2 ed.). Wiley. ISBN 978-0-471-04372-0.
3. ^ Zoski, Cynthia G. (2007). Handbook of Electrochemistry. Amsterdam: Elsevier. ISBN 978-0-444-51958-0.
4. ^ Irkham; Watanabe, T.; Fiorani, A.; Valenti, G.; Paolucci, F.; Einaga, Y. (2016). "Co-reactant-on-Demand ECL: Electrogenerated Chemiluminescence by the in Situ Production of S2O82− at Boron-Doped Diamond Electrodes". Faraday Discuss. 138 (48): 15636–15641\. Bibcode:2016JAChS.13815636I. doi:10.1021/jacs.6b09020. hdl:11585/591484. PMID 27934028.
5. ^ Heard, D. M.; Lennox, A.J.J. (2020-07-06). "Electrode Materials in Modern Organic Electrochemistry". Angewandte Chemie International Edition. 59 (43): 18866–18884\. doi:10.1002/anie.202005745. PMC 7589451. PMID 32633073.

## External links

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* IUPAC, Compendium of Chemical Terminology, 5th ed. (the "Gold Book") (2025). Online version: (2006–) "working electrode". doi:10.1351/goldbook.W06686

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Electroanalytical methods

Techniques|

* Adsorptive stripping voltammetry
* Amperometric titration
* Anodic stripping voltammetry
* Bulk electrolysis
* Cathodic stripping voltammetry
* Chronoamperometry
* Coulometry
* Cyclic voltammetry
* Differential pulse voltammetry
* Electrogravimetry
* Hydrodynamic technique
* Linear sweep voltammetry
* Normal pulse voltammetry
* Polarography
* Potentiometry
* Rotated electrode voltammetry
* Squarewave voltammetry
* Staircase voltammetry
* Voltammetry

Instrumentation|

* Amperostat
* Auxiliary electrode
* Dropping mercury electrode
* Electrode
* Electrolytic cell
* Galvanic cell
* Hanging mercury drop electrode
* Ion selective electrode
* Mercury coulometer
* pH meter
* Potentiostat
* Reference electrode
* Rotating disk electrode
* Rotating ring-disk electrode
* Salt bridge
* Saturated calomel electrode
* Silver chloride electrode
* Standard hydrogen electrode
* Ultramicroelectrode
* Voltameter
* Working electrode

Theory|

* Activity coefficient
* Butler–Volmer equation
* Cell notation
* Cottrell equation
* Debye–Hückel equation
* Double layer
* Faraday's laws of electrolysis
* Half-reaction
* Ionic strength
* Nernst equation

Analytical Chemistry

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