Electrochemical Cells
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Electrochemical cells are devices that either produce electricity from a chemical reaction or use electricity to initiate a non-spontaneous chemical reaction.
Our electrochemical cells have been designed for cyclic voltammetry, electrolysis, and other electrochemical studies. Combined with the Ossila Potentiostat, our electrochemistry range has everything you need to perform cyclic voltammetry in your commercial, academic, or teaching lab.
Whether you need temperature control, inlets for degassing, a luggin capillary for improving the accuracy of your potential measurements or h-type cell separation, we have you covered.
Browse Electrochemical Cells
Related categories: photoelectrochemical cells, potentiostat, equipment accessories, electrodes, electrochemistry
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Choose the Right Electrochemical Cell
Choosing the correct electrochemical cell depends on several experimental factors including electrolyte volume, temperature control requirements, gas environment, optical access, and electrode configuration. You should also consider whether product separation, inert atmosphere operation, or spectroscopic monitoring is necessary. Identifying the primary experimental objective such as catalyst screening, mechanistic study, or electrochemical synthesis helps you to determine the most suitable cell design. A well-chosen electrochemical cell improves experimental reliability, reduces contamination risks, and ensures accurate and reproducible electrochemical measurements.
Step 1: Determine Electrolyte Volume Requirements
The volume of electrolyte used can significantly influence cell choice. Do you need to minimize electrolyte consumption? This may apply if your electrolyte expensive, toxic or rare.
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To Minimize Electrolyte Usage
Consider microcells or small-volume electrochemical cells
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For Moderate Volume
Standard three-electrode cells will be appropriate.
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For Large volume or Extended Electrolysis
Consider large-capacity or multi-neck cells (with rotating disc electrode to ensure reactant circulation)
Microcells are especially useful when working with expensive electrolytes, rare catalysts, or limited sample availability, while larger cells provide greater stability for long-duration experiments.
Step 2: Consider Product Separation
Some electrochemical reactions require physical separation between electrodes to avoid product crossover or interference. Different cells are designed to maintain separation between different components.
Do reaction products need to be isolated between electrodes?
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Separation of counter and working electrode is required
You should use H-cells or other membrane-separated electrochemical cells
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Separation is needed, but other experimental parameters are also important (i.e. temperature control, in-situ analysis)
H-cells are available with additional ports, sampling capabilities and environmental control mechanisms.
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Separation of counter and working electrode not required.
Standard design electrochemical cells are sufficient.
H-cells are widely used in CO₂ reduction, water splitting, and catalytic reaction studies, where counter electrode reactions could otherwise alter results.
Step 3: Evaluate Temperature Control Needs
Temperature can significantly affect reaction kinetics and electrolyte conductivity. Do you need to control or stabilize temperature during experiments?
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Temperature Control Needed
Use electrochemical cells with water bath (also known as jacketed electrochemical cells).
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Temperature Control and Product Separation Needed
We would recommend using a H-cell with water bath
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Temp control Possibly Needed
Can use cells with external temperature probes or external water bath compatibility
Temperature control is especially important for kinetic studies, high-current electrolysis, and reactions that generate heat through Joule heating.
Step 4: Assess Atmospheric and Gas Requirements
Some experiments require a controlled gas environment. Will your experiment involve gas purging or sensitive atmospheres?
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Requires Gas Purging (N₂, Ar, CO₂, H₂)
Recommend cells with gas inlet and outlet ports, such as the Ossila Standard Electrochemical Cell
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Materials or System Sensitive to Oxygen/Moisture
Use EC with added sealing components, such as the electrochemical cells with extra sealing
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For Gas-evolving Reactions
Use cells with gas bubblers or venting ports.
These features help maintain consistent reaction conditions and avoid contamination.
Step 5: Determine Instrumentation and Access Requirements
Complex experiments often require additional probes, sensors, or monitoring tools. Do you need multiple access points for instrumentation?
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Additional probes are required
Choose a multi-probe electrochemical cell, such as the five-neck electrochemical cells, or cells with additional feature ports or sampling windows.
Multiple ports enable the integration of temperature probes, gas lines, sampling needles, and reference electrode positioning (Luggin capillary).
Step 6: For Luminescent or Optical Studies
If light interaction or spectroscopy is involved, optical access becomes essential. Does your experiment involve light or optical measurements?
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To Study Light-Driven Reactions
Choose a photoelectrochemical cells with one or more quartz windows.
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For Spectroscopic Monitoring
In-situ spectroelectrochemical cells are designed to monitor a sample while an experiment is occurring
For optical measurements, the electrochemical cell must have a transparent window, such as the quartz windows in our photochemical and Raman electrochemical cells.
Step 7: Consider Advanced Analytical Requirements
Some studies require real-time monitoring of chemical changes at the electrode. Do you need in-situ or operando analysis?
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If In-Situ Analysis Required
In this case, you can use a cell specially designed for these measurements. Examples of these specialist cells include:
- Raman electrochemical cells
- UV-Vis spectroelectrochemical cells
- IR-compatible electrochemical cells
These specialized cells enable researchers to correlate electrochemical signals with molecular or structural changes.
Do I Need A H-Cell?
A H-cell consists of an electrochemical cell containing two separated compartments arranged in a H-configuration. This cell design holds the reference and working electrode separate to the counter electrode, and these compartments are separated by a membrane or physical barrier. Only the selected ions will pass across the membrane (or through the salt bridge or frit) to complete the circuit.
This separation prevents product crossover and unwanted secondary reactions at the counter electrode.
- H-cells are widely used in electrocatalysis, CO₂ reduction, water splitting (HER, OER), and battery reaction studies where reaction products must remain isolated.
- They are especially useful when analysing gaseous or liquid products generated at the working electrode without interference from counter-electrode processes.
Do I Need A Water Bath or Jacketed Cell?
Electrochemical reaction rates, diffusion coefficients, and electrolyte conductivity are strongly temperature dependent. In these electrochemical experiments, maintaining a stable temperature is critical.
Jacketed electrochemical cells have an isolated outer chamber that allows temperature control via a circulating fluid. This fluid is typically connected to a water bath or recirculating chiller. Electrochemical cells with built-in water baths are perfect for conducting temperature-controlled electrochemical experiments.
Other example uses where water baths can help control temperature include:
- The dissipation of heat generated through Joule heating during high-current electrolysis experiments.
- In kinetic studies where precise thermal control is essential.
- In electrochemical water purification studies, where applied voltages of 5–8 V can generate significant heating.
- In photoelectrochemical studies where illumination can contribute to temperature rise.
- Membrane performance in systems such as PEM and AEM electrolyzers is often evaluated at elevated temperatures, making a jacketed H-cell well suited for such experiments.
Overall, maintaining a controlled temperature environment improves experimental stability, reproducibility, and reliability of electrochemical measurements. Jacketed cells also allow researchers to systematically study the effect of temperature on electrochemical performance by precisely adjusting and maintaining the reaction temperature.
Sealed Environments for Electrochemical Cells
Good sealing on electrochemical cells is essential when studying air-sensitive electrolytes, lithium/sodium battery chemistries, or oxygen-sensitive catalysts, avoiding side reactions. Appropriate sealing is also important for chemical synthesis, water quality monitoring, soil sediment analysis and metal corrosion studies.
Our super sealed electrochemical cells maintain a tightly controlled internal environment, preventing contamination from oxygen, moisture, or other atmospheric gases. These cells have gas-tight fittings, sealing gaskets, and specialized electrode ports to maintain an inert atmosphere. In our design, there are three components:
- The lid
- The threaded connector
- O-ring gasket
The threaded connector holds the cell together and the lid screws into this sealing the cell. Additionally, all electrodes come with O-ring gaskets to ensure a tight seal.
While isolating from the environmental conditions, the super sealed cell also allows you the opportunity to maintain a desired gaseous environment such as nitrogen, argon, hydrogen, CO₂, or gas mixture.
Specialist Cells
Five Necked Electrochemical Cell
Five-neck electrochemical cells provide multiple ports that enable greater experimental flexibility. These additional ports allow simultaneous integration of multiple electrodes, gas purging lines, thermometers, sampling needles, or additional sensors without disturbing the core electrochemical setup.
This design is useful in experiments requiring complex instrumentation, such as simultaneous electrochemical measurements and analytical monitoring. Five-neck cells are commonly used in electrochemical synthesis, mechanistic studies, and electrocatalysis experiments where multiple experimental variables need to be monitored or controlled simultaneously.
Additionally, the cell architecture is our only electrode compatible with the rotating disk electrode (RDE). This is vital for studies that need tight control over mass transport/ diffusion of reactants.
The five-necked electrochemical cell with water bath is more suited for RRDE studies, where better control over the reaction kinetics can be achieved.
The five-neck cell design also supports rough corrosion studies. However, the cell design is not exactly adhered with ASTM standards.
Photoelectrochemical Cells
Photoelectrochemical cells (PECs) are designed for experiments where light interacts with the electrode to drive or influence electrochemical reactions. The reaction converts light energy into chemical energy or electricity. Light activates a semiconductor or photosensitizer component within the cell and either generates electrical energy (similar to how dye-sensitized solar cells work) or drives chemical reactions that store energy by forming chemical bonds, such as producing hydrogen through water splitting. These can be used to study photochemical processes in situ.
The key difference between standard electrochemical cells and photoelectrochemical cells is the integration of an optical window for convenient and directed light transmission onto the working electrode, or electrode of interest.
They are widely used in research areas such as solar fuel generation, photocatalysis, semiconductor characterization, and photo-driven water splitting.
PECs come in a variety of body designs tailored for specific research and application needs. For example, Glass PEC cells are known for their clarity and chemical resistance, making them ideal for standard light-driven experiments. PTFE (polytetrafluoroethylene) PEC cells, meanwhile, offer superior chemical inertness and thermal stability, making them suitable for more demanding or corrosive environments.
Additional features can tailor into there cells and can be combined with different cell geometries previously discussed.
Learn More
What is an Electrochemical Cell?
An electrochemical cell is defined as a device that generates electrical energy from chemical reactions or uses electrical energy to drive chemical reactions. The simplest possible electrochemical cell consists of two connected electrodes in an electrolyte solution.
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Cyclic Voltammetry Basics, Setup, and Applications
Cyclic voltammetry is an electrochemical technique for measuring the current response of a redox active solution to a linearly cycled potential sweep between two or more set values.
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Troubleshooting Cyclic Voltammetry and Voltammograms
Cyclic voltammetry is a powerful and versatile electrochemical technique. With modern potentiostats and software packages, the method is relatively straight-forward to perform. Despite this apparent simplicity, there are still a number of things that can go wrong, particularly when setting up the electrochemical cell.
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