Despite the growing popularity of cyclic voltammetry, many students do not receive formalized training in this technique as part of their coursework. Confronted with self-instruction, students can be left wondering where to start. Here, a short introduction to cyclic voltammetry is provided to help the reader with data acquisition and interpretation. Tips and common pitfalls are provided, and the reader is encouraged to apply what is learned in short, simple training modules provided in the Supporting Information. Armed with the basics, the motivated aspiring electrochemist will find existing resources more accessible and will progress much faster in the understanding of cyclic voltammetry.

The pursuit of solar fuels has motivated extensive research on molecular electrocatalysts capable of evolving hydrogen from protic solutions, reducing CO2, and oxidizing water. Determining accurate figures of merit for these catalysts requires the careful and appropriate application of electroanalytical techniques. This Viewpoint first briefly presents the fundamentals of cyclic voltammetry and highlights practical experimental considerations before focusing on the application of cyclic voltammetry for the characterization of electrocatalysts. Key metrics for comparing catalysts, including the overpotential (η), potential for catalysis (E(cat)), observed rate constant (k(obs)), and potential-dependent turnover frequency, are discussed. The cyclic voltammetric responses for a general electrocatalytic one-electron reduction of a substrate are presented along with methods to extract figures of merit from these data. The extension of this analysis to more complex electrocatalytic schemes, such as those responsible for H2 evolution and CO2 reduction, is then discussed.

This paper describes the Magnetic Electron Ion Spectrometer (MagEIS) instruments aboard the RBSP spacecraft from an instrumentation and engineering point of view. There are four magnetic spectrometers aboard each of the two spacecraft, one low-energy unit (20-240 keV), two medium-energy units (80-1200 keV), and a high-energy unit (800-4800 keV). The high unit also contains a proton telescope (55 keV-20 MeV).The magnetic spectrometers focus electrons within a selected energy pass band upon a focal plane of several silicon detectors where pulse-height analysis is used to determine if the energy of the incident electron is appropriate for the electron momentum selected by the magnet. Thus each event is a two-parameter analysis, an approach leading to a greatly reduced background.The physics of these instruments are described in detail followed by the engineering implementation. The data outputs are described, and examples of the calibration results and early flight data presented.

Coordinative immobilization of functionalized tetraphenylethylene within rigid porous metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) turns on fluorescence in the typically non-emissive tetraphenylethylene core. The matrix coordination-induced emission effect (MCIE) is complementary to aggregation-induced emission. Despite the large interchromophore distances imposed by coordination to metal ions, a carboxylate analogue of tetraphenylethylene anchored by Zn(2+) and Cd(2+) ions inside MOFs shows fluorescence lifetimes in line with those of close-packed molecular aggregates. Turn-on fluorescence by coordinative ligation in a porous matrix is a powerful approach that may lead to new materials made from chromophores with molecular rotors. The potential utility of MCIE toward building new sensing materials is demonstrated by tuning the fluorescence response of the porous MOFs as a function of adsorbed small analytes.

Molecular catalysts for electrochemically driven hydrogen evolution are often studied in acetonitrile with glassy carbon working electrodes and Brønsted acids. Surprisingly, little information is available regarding the potentials at which acids are directly reduced on glassy carbon. This work examines acid electroreduction in acetonitrile on glassy carbon electrodes by cyclic voltammetry. Reduction potentials, spanning a range exceeding 2 V, were found for 20 acids. The addition of 100 mM water was not found to shift the reduction potential of any acid studied, although current enhancement was observed for some acids. The data reported provides a guide for selecting acids to use in electrocatalysis experiments such that direct electrode reduction is avoided.