CHEM 555, Electroanalytical chemistry

Spring 2005

The following are the events scheduled for the class. Some require time to prepare. Plan accordingly, so that you are ready.

CHEM 555, Electroanalytical chemistry Spring 2005   

Class schedule: Tuesday and Thursday, 18-19:15, FW 201

Dr. Petr Vanýsek, Instructor, FW 418, e-mail: pvanysek¤niu.edu

Office hours: Tuesday, Thursday 15:30-17:30 or by appointment

Textbook:  A. J. Bard and L. R. Faulkner: Electrochemical methods: Fundamentals and applications. 2nd Edition, Wiley, New York 2001 [ISBN 0-471-04372-9]. (Note that there exists also the first edition from 1980. It lacks the recent methods, but the fundamentals are still strong.)

Recommended book:  P. A. Christensen, Techniques and mechanisms in electrochemistry. Chapman and Hall, 1994.

   Supplementary material: Oldham and Myland, Fundamentals of Electrochemical Science, Academic Press 1994; Bockris and Khan: Surface Electrochemistry, Plenum 1993. , W. Schmickler, Interfacial Electrochemistry, Oxford University Press 1996. Bockris and Reddy: Modern Electrochemistry. Plenum (There is the first edition and then the second printing, rather updated.) C. H. Hamann, A. Hamnett and W. Vielstich: Electrochemistry, Wiley-VCH, Weinheim 1998. Some other books or chapters will be recommended during the course and perhaps fair-use copies of relevant material will be distributed.

   Topics to be covered sequentially throughout the semester

    1.       Place of electrochemistry in modern science, history of electrochemistry

    2.       Concepts of electricity, electronics, equilibria in solutions

    3.       Thermodynamics in electrochemistry, kinetics

    4.       Mass transfer by diffusion and migration

    5.       Potential step methods

    6.       Potential sweep method

    7.       Cyclic voltammetry

    8.       Controlled current and hydrodynamic techniques

    9.       Impedance measurements

   10.      Bulk electrolysis

   11.      Kinetics of electrode processes

   12.      Structure of the double-layer

   13.      Electrochemical instrumentation

   14.      Scanning probe techniques

   15.      Spectrometric and photochemical experiments

   Grading:

   Term Paper  25%

       (The components of the paper are: Facts; Treatment of the subject; Style; Spelling, grammar, language. Each of the four components is assigned 25 points.) All term papers are due April 15, 2005. You should pick the topic as early in the semester as practical.

   Midterm 37.5%   (10 March 2005).

   Final 37.5 %   (10 May 2005)

   100-85 % - A, 85 - 75 % - B, 75 -65 % - C, 65 - 55 % - D, less than 55% - F

   The midterm and the final will be "open notes" examinations. You will be allowed to bring your notes, both from the class and from your studies. You can include in your notes a few pages of copies of tables, etc. You are not allowed to bring your textbook; hence, you cannot have a copy of your textbook in your notes.

   Calculators: Essentially any kind is allowed, with the exception of a device that would hold large part of the textbook. You cannot use external data retrieval (such as wireless web connection. The exam work is your own work. You cannot communicate with others -- cell phones and similar devices must be turned off.

   Possible term-paper topics:

1.       Electrochromism

2.       Sol-gel electrode modification processes

3.       Vacuum surface techniques., X-ray photoelectrochemical spectroscopy

4.       Scanning electrochemical microscopy.

5.       Magnetic fields and magnetism in electrochemistry

6.       Quartz crystal microbalance

7.       Underpotential deposition

8.       Ultramicroelectrodes

9.       Reticulated vitreous graphite, diamond films, quantum dots, fullerenes or other modern electrode materials. Neutron diffraction, X-ray scattering and other high technology methods in electrochemistry.