We developed a lab experiment in which students polymerize 3-methylthiophene
onto a polished platinum electrode surface and optimize the conditions (deposition
temperature, monomer concentration, deposition time, applied voltage, and electrolyte
concentration) for the selective electrode to determine catechol by utilizing
cyclic voltammetry. The students learn to use a potentiostat–galvanostat
and a cyclic voltammetry instrument while determining the best parameters to
detect catechol.
Supplement
Student handout, including the pre- and postlab questions, is available.
Our Secondary School editors work hard to distill all the JCE materials to produce a fraction of particular interest to high school teachers. We call it CLIC.
In recent years we have worked hard to better match our advertisers with our readers. When shopping for chemistry education materials, visit our advertisers' WWW sites first.
Take JCE along on your outreach missions. Copies of the Journal, guest access to JCE Online, our publications catalog, and more are available for your participants.