Working electrode

{{short description|Electrode on which an electrochemical reaction occurs}}

In electrochemistry, the working electrode is the electrode in an electrochemical system on which the reaction of interest is occurring.{{Cite book

| edition = 2

| publisher = CRC

| isbn = 978-0-8247-9445-3

| last = Kissinger

| first = Peter

|author2=William R. Heineman

| title = Laboratory Techniques in Electroanalytical Chemistry, Second Edition, Revised and Expanded

| date = 1996-01-23

}}{{Cite book

| edition = 2

| publisher = Wiley

| isbn = 978-0-471-04372-0

| last = Bard

| first = Allen J.

|author2=Larry R. Faulkner

| title = Electrochemical Methods: Fundamentals and Applications

| date = 2000-12-18

}}{{cite book|last=Zoski|first=Cynthia G.|title=Handbook of Electrochemistry |year=2007|publisher=Elsevier |location=Amsterdam|isbn=978-0-444-51958-0|title-link=Handbook of Electrochemistry}} The working electrode is often used in conjunction with an auxiliary electrode, and a reference electrode in a three-electrode system. Depending on whether the reaction on the electrode is a reduction or an oxidation, the working electrode is called cathodic or anodic, respectively. Common working electrodes can consist of materials ranging from noble metals such as gold or platinum, to inert carbon such as glassy carbon, boron-doped diamond{{cite journal |title= Co-reactant-on-Demand ECL: Electrogenerated Chemiluminescence by the in Situ Production of S2O82− at Boron-Doped Diamond Electrodes |year=2016 |last1= Irkham |last2= Watanabe |first2=T. |last3= Fiorani |first3=A. |last4= Valenti |first4=G. |last5=Paolucci |first5=F. |last6= Einaga |first6=Y. |journal= Faraday Discuss|volume=138 |issue = 48|pages=15636–15641 |doi= 10.1021/jacs.6b09020|pmid=27934028 |bibcode=2016JAChS.13815636I |hdl=11585/591484 |hdl-access=free }} or pyrolytic carbon, and mercury drop and film electrodes.{{Cite journal

| doi = 10.1002/anie.202005745

| volume = 59

| issue = 43

| pages = 18866–18884

| last = Heard

| first = D. M.

| author2= Lennox, A.J.J.

| title = Electrode Materials in Modern Organic Electrochemistry.

| journal = Angewandte Chemie International Edition

| date = 2020-07-06

| pmid = 32633073

| doi-access = free

| pmc = 7589451

}} Chemically modified electrodes are employed for the analysis of both organic and inorganic samples.