Bipolar (Bio)electroanalysis

Abstract

This contribution reviews a selection of the most recent studies on the use of bipolar electrochemistry in the framework of analytical chemistry. Despite the fact that the concept is not new, with several important studies dating back to the middle of the last century, completely novel and very original approaches have emerged over the last decade. This current revival illustrates that scientists still (re)discover some exciting virtues of this approach, which are useful in many different areas, especially for tackling analytical challenges in an unconventional way. In several cases, this “wireless” electrochemistry strategy enables carrying out measurements that are simply not possible with classic electrochemical approaches. This review will hopefully stimulate new ideas and trigger scientists to integrate some aspects of bipolar electrochemistry in their work in order to drive the topic into yet unexplored and eventually completely unexpected directions. Expected final online publication date for the Annual Review of Analytical Chemistry, Volume 14 is June 2021. Please see http://www.annualreviews.org/page/journal/pubdates for revised estimates.

Enhanced Cathodic Electrochemiluminescence of Luminol on Iron Electrodes

“…Indeed, bipolar electrochemistry is a wireless technique allowing to investigate simultaneously both cathodic and anodic processes . In brief, when sufficient potential is applied in solution by two feeder electrodes, the resulting electric field generates apparent polarization of a conductive object placed between them. − Thus, faradaic reactions may occur at both extremities of the object: reduction at the cathodic pole and oxidation at the anodic one located in front of the feeder anode and cathode, respectively. Herein, we positioned a simple iron wire (also used for the voltammetry and ECL experiments) between two feeder electrodes (Figure a) in a PBS solution (pH = 7.4) containing the ECL reagents (L-012 and H 2 O 2 ).…”

Impedimetric Characterization of Bipolar Nanoelectrodes with Cancer Cells

“…Such analytical applications make up a large area of the field and have been developed for both chemical and biological analytes. Examples have been recently reviewed. , …”

“…Examples have been recently reviewed. 21,22 Biological applications of BPEs have been used for the detection, 23 imaging, 24 capture, 25 and lysis 26 of living cells. Many biological applications focus on the surface of cells or require cell lysis to analyze the intracellular content.…”

Cover Feature: Recent Advances in Bipolar Electrochemistry with Conducting Polymers (ChemElectroChem 1/2022)

“…A promising and original option to synthesize and characterize the physico-chemical properties of CPs is the use of bipolar electrochemistry (BE). [7][8][9][10][11] BE is an interesting approach to generate asymmetric electroactivity on a conducting object. Briefly, in the presence of an external electric field (ε), a polarization potential difference (ΔV) is generated at the extremities of a conducting object positioned anywhere in the solution.…”