Electrochemical Renewal of Stationary Mercury Drop or Meniscus Electrodes

Abstract

We show that a liquid mercury drop electrode surface can be electrochemically renewed without mechanical detachment of the drop. Voltammetric experiments with a mechanically renewed stationary (hanging) mercury drop or meniscus electrode (SME) and an electrochemically renewed SME are compared. The measurements were performed with two surface active organic depolarizers, i.e., 2-aminoanthraquinone and dithiothreitol and surface inactive Cd(NO 3 ) 2 . The results show that efficient purely electrochemical renewal of the electrode surface of SME for voltammetric purposes is possible.