UV/Vis/NIR spectroelectrochemistry

Voltammetric techniques used in electrochemistry monitor the flow of current as a function of potential, time, and mass transport. A huge variety of different experiments are possible, giving information about reaction energies, reaction intermediates, and the kinetics of a process [1-4]. However, additional data are often required and are accessible, in particular, via in situ spectroelectrochemical approaches. By coupling a spectroscopic technique such as UV/Vis/NIR spectroscopy [5, 6] to an electrochemical experiment, a wealth of complementary information as a function of the potential, time, and mass transport is available. In a recently published book dedicated to spectroelectrochemical techniques [7] the diversity of methods and new chemical information obtained is apparent. Both spectroscopic information about short-lived unstable intermediates and spectroscopic information disentangling the composition of complex mixtures of reactants can be obtained. Figure II.6.1 shows a schematic diagram for the case of a computer-controlled potentiostat system connected to a conventional electrochemical cell (working electrode WE, reference electrode RE, counter electrode CE) and simultaneously controlling the emitter and detector of a spectrometer. This kind of experimental arrangement allows the electrochemical and the spectroscopic data to be recorded simultaneously and, therefore, in contrast to the analysis of two independent data sets, direct correlation of data as a function of time and potential is possible.