Linear Potential Sweep and Cyclic Voltammetry

Abstract

The linear potential sweep and cyclic voltammetrk techniques were first introduced by Matheson and Nichols(1) in 1938 and were described theoretically by Randles(2) and Sevcik(3) ten years later. Since that time these two techniques have grown rapidly in popularity, not only as a means of obtaining a quick “electrochemical spectrum” of a charge transfer system, but also as a method for the detailed examination of reaction mechanisms. Recent developments, such as convolution potential sweep voltammetry (Section 6.7), have greatly extended the usefulness of the basic method, and it now exists as one of the most powerful of electrochemical techniques.