Electrochemical Analysis of Solids. A Review

The topic of the review is the electrochemical analysis of solids aimed to identify or determine their phase or elemental composition, analyse the composition of solid mixtures, characterise their electrochemistry-related properties and analyse the redox state of the constituent elements. The ways of the electrode preparation are discussed with a special attention paid to compact and composite electrodes including carbon-paste electrodes, and direct immobilisation of powders on a working electrode. Examples are given of simultaneous electrochemical measurements combined with X-ray diffraction, optical or atomic force microscopy, and mass measurement by quartz microbalance. The state-of-art of voltammetric analysis of inorganic and organic solids achieved in the last two decades is systematically reviewed with the aim to find cases, when electrochemistry can compete successfully with other analytical techniques as for sensitivity, specificity, and sample consumption. Electrochemical methods are shown to be a perspective tool for redox analysis of catalysts, combined elemental and phase analysis of inorganic pigments and minerals, characterisation of solid solutions, metalloorganic and organic solids. A review with 196 references.