Cyclic voltammetry (CV) is a very useful electrochemical tool used to study reaction systems that include chemical steps that are coupled to electron transfers. This type of system generally involves the chemical reaction of an electrochemically generated free radical. Published methods exist that are used to determine the kinetics of electrochemically initiated chemical reactions from the measurements of the peak current ratio (i_pa/i_pc) of a cyclic voltammogram. The published method requires working curves to relate a kinetic parameter to the peak current ratio.

In the presented work, a digital simulation package was used to obtain improved working curves for specific working conditions. The curves were compared with the published results for the first- and second-order chemical reactions following the charge transfer step mechanisms.

According to the presented results, the previously published working curve is reliable for a mechanism with a first-order chemical reaction; however, a change in the switching potential requires a recalculation of the curve. In the case of mechanisms with a second-order step (dimerisation and disproportionation), several different views exist on how the second-order chemical term should be expressed so that different values of the constant are obtained. Parameters such as electrode type, electrode area, electroactive species concentration, switching potential, scan rate and method for peak current ratio calculation modify the working curves and must always be specified.

We propose a standardised method to obtain the most reliable kinetic constant values.

The results of this work will permit researchers who handle simulation software to construct their own working curves. Additionally, those who do not have the simulation software could use the working curves described here.

The revelations of the presented experiments may be useful to a broad chemistry audience because this study presents a simple and low-cost procedure for the study of free radicals that otherwise should be studied with more sophisticated and expensive techniques, such as ESR or pulse radiolysis.