During 1993 and in conjunction with the Department
of Chemistry at La Trobe University, (ultra) micro disc electrodes
were developed which led to electrodes having a number of unique
properties!
The most important aspect of this development was a specialised
micro wire
sealing technique, which allowed for a reliable production of
electrodes with diameters ranging from 500um down to 0.6um.
The quality of the seal between the wire and glass
enables one to carry out cyclic voltammetry at very high sweep
rates.(thousands of volts per second)
One of the advantages of voltammetry with micro disc electrodes
is the linear relationship between the current (i) and the diffusion
coefficient (D), the concentration (C) of the reactant and the
electrode radius (r):
i = 4nFDCr
Similarly to the sweep rate dependence of the peak current in
cyclic voltammetry, the radius dependence of the steady- state
current is important when performing voltammetry with micro disc
electrodes.
For this reason, G.Glass (formerly known as Micro
Glass Instruments) uniquely provides micro disc electrodes in
a wide range of radii. (see table 1)
This product furthermore allows you:
1. to obtain voltammograms of superior quality.
2. to achieve experimental results of great reliability.
(close compliance to theory is found under steady- state conditions.)
3. to use an ultrasonic bath for cleaning the disc surface of
electrodes.
4. to use the electrodes in vacuum environments.
5. to reduce overall cost of electrodes due to less breakage.
- Platinum and Carbon electrodes are sealed into borosilicate
glass.
- Gold- and Silver electrodes are sealed into soda glass.
