Electrochemistry as currently taught to undergraduates in general chemistry lecture and laboratory courses does not adequately prepare students for modern research that incorporates this strongly interdisciplinary field. Undergraduates typically do not have access to hands-on training with common electrochemical tools such as potentiostats and so do not learn techniques for gathering and analyzing electrochemical data. Electrochemistry is a tool that is essential to many chemical fields including studies of catalysis, energy storage, photosynthesis, respiration, and proton-coupled electron transfer. We will describe a hands-on electrochemistry training course we developed that is specifically targeted at undergraduates; outcomes include the ability to collect a cyclic voltammogram and by visual inspection determine if the redox couple is reversible, quasi-reversible, or irreversible. This training aims to produce students who are trained in electrochemical techniques and better prepared to enter graduate studies in almost any chemical, biological, and engineering fields.

Engaging and training undergraduates in modern electrochemistry

255th National Meeting (2018)

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