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<p>Cleaning and Polishing of Electrochemical Disk Electrodes</p> <p><b>New page</b></p><div><br /> <br /> Chemical and/or electrochemical methods of cleaning your electrode should be trialled before resorting to mechanical methods (use of abrasive poloshing powders).<br /> <br /> Use of Alumina, and other abrasive polishing powders, should be restricted to situations where the electrode is coated with material that cannot otherwise be removed.<br /> <br /> <br /> Chemical Cleaning<br /> <br /> Most metal oxide coatings can be removed using mildly acidic conditions (0.1 mol/L nitric or hydrochloric acid).<br /> <br /> Precipitated proteins can be removed with commercially available solutions of hydrolytic proteinase solutions.<br /> <br /> Greasy deposits/organic deposits can often be be washed away with ethanol (or other organic solvent).<br /> <br /> Inorganic deposits may be soluble in dilute (0.1 mol/L) acid or base solution.<br /> <br /> Electrochemical Cleaning<br /> <br /> Some deposits may be able to be removed by applying a constant oxidizing (or reducing) potential. The use of an acidic (or basic) solvent may accelerate the removal.<br /> <br /> For self assembled monolayers of thiols bonded to a gold electrode, first try applying a cathodic potential to reduce the gold-sulfur bonds (creating free floating thiol groups) which can then be washed away.<br /> <br /> Mercury Films<br /> <br /> Usually mercury films on a platinum or glassy carbon electrode can be removed by wiping gently with a small tissue paper (deposit the tissue paper in mercury waste jar). Any further mercury can be removed by using a oxidizing potential (eg +0.8 V) in 0.1 mol/L nitric acid. This can be followed by gentle polishing on a polishing pad (NO alumina).</div>

PaulDuckworth