ET030  Electrochemical Electrode Polishing Kit

This kit is designed for the cleaning and repolishing of voltammetric disk electrodes. It contains:

• 2 glass base plates (ET031-2)
• 20 polishing cloths with self-adhesive backing (2 of ET032)
• 1 six ounce bottle of 0.05 µm alumina slurry (ET033)
• 1 six ounce bottle of 0.3 µm alumina slurry (ET034)

The polishing method is described here. 

To decide if you need to clean your electrodes, please refer to the infomation below:

• If they look dirty they probably are and cleaning should be done.
• If the electrochemistry reaction produces any sort of insoluble material (including any sort of electrodeposition or electropolymerization reaction) then cleaning of the working electrode (and maybe also the auxiliary electrode) will be required.
• If you get strange peaks in a cyclic voltammogram run when the the electrodes are placed in fresh solvent/electrolyte then (assuming the electrolyte solution is pure) then the working electrode surface should be cleaned.
• If the current is unexpectedly small then the working (or auxilairy) electrode surface may be coated with a non conductive material. Although by this stage it would normally be visibly fouled.
• If you get the expected voltammetric peaks but at wrong E values then the reference electrode may be exhausted and need regenerating or replacement.
• If you get oscillations/noise in staring a voltammteric experiment then the reference electrode may be clogged or broken giving an open circuit. If this is suspected then repeat the experiment without the reference electrode attached. If you get a similar result then the reference electrode needs cleaning or replacement.