A DROPPING MERCURY MICROELECTRODE (DM-MU-E) FOR THE DIRECT DETERMINATION OF SURFACE-CHARGE DENSITIES

A dropping mercury electrode has been constructed which produces drops with a radius of about 50 μm. The characteristics of such electrodes are similar to those of conventional electrodes except for the strongly reduced natural drop time. This drop time turns out to be very stable and virtually independent of surface tension. These properties allow for interesting applications. Here the electrode is used for the determination of electrode surface charge density, which proves to be quite accurate. Because this technique has distinct advantages over the currently available ones we consider it to be a powerful tool in double-layer research. © 1990.