Here, we employ bipolar electrochemistry for the development of a series of undergraduate laboratory experiments reinforcing the principles of electrochemistry. The experiments, designed for completion within a single laboratory period, include water electrolysis, metal deposition, Faraday’s constant determination, and electrochemiluminescence. Bipolar electrochemical reactions occur when a voltage applied across an ionic solution containing a conductive bipolar electrode (BPE) results in a sufficiently large potential difference between the solution and BPE. The bipolar electrochemical cell for each experiment is comprised of a petri dish containing supporting electrolyte and a pencil graphite or Cu wire BPE. A battery is utilized as the power supply for each experiment. This low-cost setup demonstrates the simplicity of forming an electrolytic cell with bipolar electrochemistry. Importantly, each bipolar electrochemistry experiment requires less than five minutes to complete and is monitored visually.

Introducing electrochemistry with simple and fast bipolar electrochemistry experiments

2019 Spring National Meeting

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