Affordable Cyclic Voltammetry for High Schools

[Laura Arnold]

Contact Information

University and Department: The Kinkaid School

Team Members: Sunil Pai

Primary Email Address: Raj.Pai@halliburton.com

Project Information

Cyclic voltammetry is an accurate electrochemical technique that analyses fundamental chemical properties. The goal of this project is to bring its benefits to the high school level so that simple chemical procedures such as titration can be replaced with more accurate electrochemical methods in advanced chemistry courses. I have developed a simple cyclic voltammetry system for less than $200 that is comparable to the $4000 commercially available eDAQ system.

Different cyclic voltammograms were compared between my setup and eDAQ using commercially available screen-printed electrodes to determine system accuracy. The plot of peak current vs. concentration showed linear results for potassium ferricyanide in 1.0 M KCl. As in the eDAQ program, ascorbic acid in phosphate buffer was irreversible (single peak). The complicated dye Congo red in KCl was tested for exploratory purposes and had three peaks (2 Ered and 1 Eox). I also developed a methodology to conduct a cyclic voltammogram of glucose using inexpensive, commercially available serum glucose test strips. Results for glucose in phosphate buffer were measured and found comparable to those from eDAQ.

My system uses LabView software and a NI-USB-6008 data acquisition unit to generate a voltage waveform, a Java program for post-processing of data, and a potentiostat to measure current and control the electrode voltages. As proven by the comparative analysis, the system is capable of providing accurate and consistent values for characteristic cyclic voltammetry parameters and depicting the kinetics of tested chemicals at substantially reduced costs compared to commercial alternatives.