A mechanistic study of the EC′ mechanism – the split wave in cyclic voltammetry and square wave voltammetry

Abstract

In this paper, a detailed investigation of electrochemical reactions coupled with homogenous chemical steps using cyclic voltammetry (CV) and square wave voltammetry (SWV) was carried out to study the electrocatalytic (EC′) mechanism. In CV, parameters including scan rate, electrode material and redox reactant were investigated while in SWV, parameters including substrate concentrations and frequencies were altered to demonstrate the EC′ mechanism. Mechanistic studies focused on the EC′ mechanism using L-cysteine with ferrocenecarboxylic acid and 1,1′-ferrocenedicarboxylic acid respectively. Voltammetric responses were recorded and under conditions of high chemical rate constant and low substrate concentration, a split wave was observed in both CV and SWV studies.