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Mercury Drop Electrodes

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Encyclopedia of Applied Electrochemistry

Introduction and Description

Mercury has been widely used in electrochemistry, especially as a working electrode due to its unique electrochemical properties. The employment of a mercury electrode as the working electrode is called polarography, which was invented by Professor Jaroslav Heyrovský in 1922 [1]. Prof. Heyrovský was awarded Nobel Prize in 1959 for the significance polarography has established in electrochemical analysis. In this entry, we will introduce different types of mercury drop electrodes, the associated techniques for utilizing mercury electrodes, and the applications of mercury electrodes for the determination of various species.

Mercury electrodes are beneficial for the measurement of both inorganic and organic materials. The species to be determined on the mercury electrode should demonstrate electroactivity within the available potential range, or catalytic activity, or the ability to be adsorbed on mercury. The electroactive species must be soluble in a...

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Chemical Engineering Department, National Tsing Hua University, Hsinchu, Taiwan

    Ying-Hui Lee & Chi-Chang Hu

Authors
  1. Ying-Hui Lee
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  2. Chi-Chang Hu
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Ying-Hui Lee .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Eppstein, Germany

    Gerhard Kreysa

  2. Yokohama National University, Fac. Engineering, Yokohama, Japan

    Ken-ichiro Ota

  3. Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH, USA

    Robert F. Savinell

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Lee, YH., Hu, CC. (2014). Mercury Drop Electrodes. In: Kreysa, G., Ota, Ki., Savinell, R.F. (eds) Encyclopedia of Applied Electrochemistry. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-6996-5_68

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