DYNAMIC ELECTROCHEMISTRY AS A QUANTITATIVE PROBE OF INTERFACIAL PHYSICOCHEMICAL PROCESSES

The application of electrochemical techniques to investigate interfaci al processes outside the traditional boundaries of electrochemistry is discussed. By drawing on the well-established merits and principles o f electrochemical methods, it is shown how a wide range of processes a t electrically insulating interfaces can be investigated quantitativel y under conditions where: (i) mass transport and surface kinetic effec ts can be separated; (ii) interfacial reactive fluxes can be measured and interpreted in terms of interfacial speciation; (iii) the influenc e of surface structure can be explored. The relative attributes of the channel flow method with electrochemical detection, the channel stopp ed flow method, microelectrochemical measurements at expanding droplet s, scanning electrochemical microscopy and integrated electrochemical- atomic force microscopy are assessed as probes of physicochemical phen omena at liquid/solid, liquid/liquid and liquid/gas interfaces.