Electrochemistry education of future researchers and citizens is crucial if we are to decarbonise economies and reach targets for net zero. In this paper, we take an overview of electrochemistry within school education. We used curriculum documents obtained from national and state education department websites and from local teachers, examples of assessments and insights from the chemistry education literature to evaluate the extent of electrochemistry education around the world. We found that there is a great deal of electrochemistry included in the intended curriculum for high schools although there is variability depending on how early students are able to specialise in a smaller number of subjects. A range of contexts are used to illustrate the key ideas including galvanic and electrolytic cells, electrolysis and analysis. There is generally constructive alignment between assessment items and the intended curriculum although in some cases assessment was more simplistic than the intended curriculum would suggest. The effectiveness of the taught curriculum is undermined by low teacher confidence in teaching electrochemistry especially more advanced concepts. Additionally, there are a number of misconceptions generated when students learn electrochemistry with some of these potentially arising from published resources such as textbooks.

The degradation efficiency of chloroquine phosphate (CQ), an anti-COVID-19 drug, was investigated in a flow-by electrochemical reactor (FBER) provided with two boron-doped diamond (BDD) electrodes (as cathode and anode) under batch recirculation mode. A central composite rotatable design (CCRD) was run down to model and assess the influence of initial pH in an interval of 3.71 to 11.28, the current density in an interval of 34.32 to 185.68 mA cm, and liquid volumetric flow rate in an interval of 0.58 to 1.42 L min, and conduct the convex optimization to obtain the maximum degradation efficiency. Experimental results were modeled through a second-order polynomial equation having a determination coefficient () of 0.9705 with a variance coefficient of 1.1%. Optimal operating conditions found (initial pH of 5.38, current density () of 34.4 mA cm, and liquid flow rate () of 1.42 L min) led to a global maximum degradation efficiency, COD removal efficiency, and mineralization efficiency of 89.3, 51.6 and 53.1%, respectively, with an energy consumption of 0.041 kWh L within 9 h of treatment. Additionally, a pseudo-zero-order kinetic model was demonstrated to fit the experimental data and the calculated pseudo-zero-order kinetic constant () was 13.14 mg L h (2.54 × 10 mol dm h). Furthermore, the total operating cost was of 0.47 US$ L. Finally, this research could be helpful for the treatment of wastewater containing an anti-COVID-19 drug such as CQ.

Electrochemically assisted deposition of an ormosil film at a potential where hydrogen ion is generated as the catalyst yields insulating films on electrodes. When the base electrode is modified with 20-nm poly(styrene sulfonate), PSS, beads bound to the surface with 3-aminopropyltriethoxysilane (APTES) and using (CH)SiOCH as the precursor, the resulting film of organically modified silica (ormosil) has cylindrical channels that reflect both the diameter of the PSS and the distribution of the APTES-PSS on the electrode. At an electrode modified by a 20-min immersion in 0.5 mmol dm APTES followed by a 30-s immersion in PSS, a 20-min electrolysis at 1.5 V in acidified (CH)SiOCH resulted in an ormosil film with 20-nm pores separated by 100 nm. Cyclic voltammetry of Ru(CN) at scan rates above 5 mVs yielded currents controlled primarily by linear diffusion. Below 5 mVs, convection rather than the expected factor, radial diffusion, apparently limited the current.

Modification of electrodes with nm-scale organically modified silica films with pores diameters controlled at 10- and 50-nm is described. An oxidation catalyst, mixed-valence ruthenium oxide with cyano crosslinks or gold nanoparticles protected by dirhodium-substituted phosophomolybdate (AuNP-RhPMo), was immobilized in the pores. These systems comprise size-exclusion films at which the biological compounds, phosphatidylcholine and cardiolipin, were electrocatalytically oxidized without interference from surface-active concomitants such as bovine serum albumin. 10-nm pores were obtained by adding generation-4 poly(amidoamine) dendrimer, G4-PAMAM, to a (CH)SiOCH sol. 50-nm pores were obtained by modifying a glassy carbon electrode (GC) with a sub-monolayer film of aminopropyltriethoxylsilane, attaching 50-nm diameter poly(styrene sulfonate), PSS, spheres to the protonated amine, transferring this electrode to a (CH)SiOCH sol, and electrochemically generating hydronium at uncoated GC sites, which catalyzed ormosil growth around the PSS. Voltammetry of Fe(CN) and Ru(NH) demonstrated the absence of residual charge after removal of the templating agents. With the 50-nm system, the pore structure was sufficiently defined to use layer-by-layer electrostatic assembly of AuNP-RhPMo therein. Flow injection amperometry of phosphatidylcholine and cardiolipin demonstrated analytical utility of these electrodes.

The present paper reports an alternate current impedance spectroscopic study on adsorption of urea (U) at Pt(100) single-crystal surface, examined in 0.5 M HSO supporting electrolyte. The resulted information provided confirmation of the role of electrosorption of urea on the Pt(100) plane through evaluation of the associated charge transfer resistance and capacitance parameters. Obtained impedance results were compared to those previously recorded for guanidinium cation (G) under analogous experimental conditions, especially with respect to the so-called mechanism, as originally proposed for the G ion and bi(sulfate)/OH species, based on the voltammetric and in situ Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy results.

Based on our 40-year collaboration and friendship, this essay attempts to identify a few of the main themes of Professor Keith B. Oldham's numerous contributions to the field of applied mathematics.

Solid-contact ion-selective electrodes (SC-ISEs) can exhibit very low detection limits and, in contrast to conventional ISEs, do not require an optimization of the inner filling solution. This work shows that subnanomolar detection limits can also be achieved with SC-ISEs with three-dimensionally ordered macroporous (3DOM) carbon contacts, which have been shown recently to exhibit excellent long-term stabilities and good resistance to the interferences from oxygen and light. The detection limit of 3DOM carbon-contacted electrodes with plasticized poly(vinyl chloride) as membrane matrix can be improved with a high polymer content of the sensing membrane, a large ratio of ionophore and ionic sites, and conditioning with a low concentration of analyte ions. This permits detection limits as low as 1.6×10(-7) M for K(+) and 4.0×10(-11) M for Ag(+).

High integrity solid-contact (SC) polymeric ion sensors have been produced by using spin casting and electropolymerization techniques in the preparation of the SC employing the conductive polymer, poly(3-octylthiophene) [POT]. The physical and chemical integrity of the POT SCs have been evaluated using scanning electron microscopy (SEM), atomic force microscopy (AFM), secondary ion mass spectrometry (SIMS) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). Furthermore, the electrochemical stability of SC polymeric ion sensors has been investigated using electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS). The results of this study demonstrate that electropolymerization and spin casting methods also comprising annealing of the synthesized SC film are capable of producing SCs that are relatively free of imperfections such as pores and pinholes. This leads to electrochemically stable and robust polymeric ion sensors where the SC/sensor interface is resistant to the formation of a detrimental water layer that normally gives rise to spurious ion fluxes and a degradation in the sensitivity and selectivity of the SC polymeric ion sensor.

The COVID-19 pandemic that is still prevalent around the globe each day consumes massive disposable face masks and consequently lays a heavy burden on waste management. Meanwhile, the incineration of these medical wastes further escalates the already overwhelming carbon emission that leads to global warming and climate change. To offer a potential solution addressing medical waste and CO emission challenges, we herein develop a synthetic protocol to upgrade face masks into Ni, N-doped graphene (Ni-N-C) sheet catalysts for selectively reducing CO into CO electrochemically. The high specific surface area and the uniform dispersion of Ni active sites of the catalyst derived from a regular disposable face mask enable a near-unity CO Faradaic efficiency (FE) at the current density of 200 mA cm. This study offers outside-of-the-box thinking to address environmental issues by turning medical wastes into CO reduction catalysts.

The zinc deposition reaction onto metallic zinc has been investigated at the single particle level through the electrode-particle collision method in neutral solutions, and in respect of its dependence on the applied potential and the ionic strength of a sulphate-containing solution. Depending on the concentration of sulphate ions in solution, different amounts of metallic zinc were deposited on the single Zn nanoparticles. Specifically, insights into the electron transfer kinetics at the single particles were obtained, indicating an electrically early reactant-like transition state, which is consistent with the rate-determining partial de-hydration/de-complexation process. Such information on the reaction kinetics at the nanoscale is of vital importance for the development of more efficient and long-lasting nanostructured Zn-based negative electrodes for Zn-ion battery applications.

In this article, we characterized tungsten oxide-decorated carbon-supported PtIr nanoparticles and tested it for the electrooxidation reactions of ethylene glycol and ethanol. Phase and morphological evaluation of the proposed electrocatalytic materials are investigated employing various characterization techniques including X-ray diffraction (XRD) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). Electrochemical diagnostic measurements such as cyclic voltammetry, chronoamperometry, and linear sweep voltammetry revealed that the tungsten oxide-modified PtIr/Vulcan nanoparticles have higher catalytic activity for ethylene glycol and ethanol electrooxidation than that of PtIr/Vulcan. A significant enhancement for electrooxidation of CO-adsorbate monolayers occurred in the presence of a transition metal oxide relative to that of pure PtIr/Vulcan electrocatalyst. The likely reasons for this are modification on the Pt center electronic structure and/or increasing the population of reactive oxo groups at the PtIr/Vulcan electrocatalytic interface in different potential regions.

As the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) poses a grave threat to human life and health, it is essential to develop an efficient and sensitive detection method to identify infected individuals. This study described an electrode platform immunosensor to detect SARS-CoV-2-specific spike receptor-binding domain (RBD) protein based on a bare gold electrode modified with Ag-rGO nanocomposites and the biotin-streptavidin interaction system. The Ag-rGO nanocomposites was obtained by chemical synthesis and characterized by electrochemistry and scanning electron microscope (SEM). Cyclic voltammetry (CV) and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) were used to record the electrochemical signals in the electrode modification. The differential pulse voltammetry (DPV) results showed that the limit of detection (LOD) of the immunosensor was 7.2 fg mL and the linear dynamic detection range was 0.015 ~ 158.5 pg mL. Furthermore, this sensitive immunosensor accurately detected RBD in artificial saliva with favorable stability, specificity, and reproducibility, indicating that it has the potential to be used as a practical method for the detection of SARS-CoV-2.

The growing demand for electricity has increased the interest of the researchers towards exploration of energy storing devices (ESDs). With the motif for developing electrochemical energy storage devices, this research work is focussed on the study of MoO nanoparticles and its doping with chromium as an efficient electrode material for energy storage applications. The nanoparticles were synthesized by hydrothermal method and were examined by powder X-ray diffraction, which determined the thermodynamically stable orthorhombic phase of MoO, and their morphologies were examined using scanning electron microscopy displaying flake-like structures. The typical vibrational bands of Mo-O were identified from Infra-red and Raman spectral analysis. The ultra violet diffuse reflectance spectra revealed the decrease in optical band gap after doping with chromium. The temperature dependent AC and DC conductivities were enhanced on doping. Electrochemical behaviour of the nanoparticles was probed by cyclic voltammetry (CV), electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) measurements and galvanostatic charge-discharge (GCD) analysis for which specific capacitance ( ) value of 334 Fg was achieved for Cr-doped MoO nanoparticles. The electrochemical performance of the sample was found to be increased after doping with Cr.

Aluminium terbium alloys were prepared by simultaneous thermal evaporation resulting in a thin film library covering a 5 to 25 at.% Tb compositional spread. Synchrotron x-ray diffraction (XRD) proves all of the alloys to be amorphous. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) measurements reveal the structural changes upon increase in Tb content with the formation of small, Tb-rich segregations right before a drastic change in morphology around 25 at.% Tb. Anodic oxides were formed systematically in cyclic voltammograms using scanning droplet cell microscopy. Coulometric analysis revealed a linear thickness over formation potential behaviour with film formation factors ranging from 1.2 nm V (5 at.% Tb) to 1.6 nm V (25 % Tb). Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy was performed for each incremental oxidation step resulting in a linear relation between inverse capacity and formation potential with dielectric constants ranging from 8 (5 at.% Tb) to 16 (25 at.% Tb).

In recent years, the use of prescribed and non-prescribed drugs has increased. Therefore, advances in new technologies and sensors for detecting molecules in natural environments are required. In this work, a 3D-printed polylactic acid stencil is used to fabricate paper-based analytical devices (ePADs). Herein, we report the use of carbon-based lab-manufactured conductive ink for the fabrication of sensors towards the detection of chloroquine and escitalopram. For each batch, eight ePADs were successfully fabricated. Firstly, the fabricated sensors were evaluated morphologically by scanning electron microscopy and electrochemically by cyclic voltammetry and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy experiments. The sensors displayed a well-defined voltammetric profile in the presence of the redox couple, when compared to a commercial carbon screen-printed electrode. Differential pulse voltammetry conducted the detection of chloroquine and escitalopram with detection limits of 4.0 and 0.5 µmol L, respectively. The ePADs fabricated using the 3D stencil are here presented as alternatives for the fabrication of electrochemical analytical devices.

A personal mini-review is presented on the history of electroanalysis and on their present achievements and future challenges. The manuscript is written from the subjective view of two generations of electroanalytical chemists that have witnessed for many years the evolution of this discipline.

Homogeneous redox catalysis within electrochemically supported microdroplets immobilised on an electrode surface and bathed by an immiscible electrolyte solution is characterised using finite difference numerical methods, after conformal transformation of the physical problem. This is shown to be a challenging environment to simulate and model, not least due to the confinement of the heterogeneous electron transfer to the droplet/support/electrolyte boundary, and hence leading to acute convergent/divergent diffusion regimes. Reactivity at the triple phase boundary underpins both the spatial and temporal non-uniformity of the reacting droplet environment. Crucially, through comparison with experimental data reported in the literature, it is demonstrated that Reasons for this discrepancy with literature are suggested. It is recommended that any inference of reaction rate acceleration through increased rate constants in microdroplets on surfaces be re-examined, lest the multi-dimensional dynamics at the three-phase boundary are unaccounted.