Professor Dana Dlott and Natalia Garcia Rey have designed a spectra-electrochemical cell that is user and environmental friendly. The material used is chemically resistant for cleaning and electrochemical experiments. Previous designs presented a complicated assembly with many different parts, large volume, and a liquid gap between the window and the electrode that could not be controlled.
Their findings show how important it is to have control of the gap for the ultrafast spectroscopic analysis and for understanding of the electrochemical reactions occurring on the electrolyte-electrode. This design also allows one to move the electrode sample to refresh the solution and repeat the experiment, setting the sample back to the same position with micrometer precision, which is very important in laser experiments and for comparing between results. The design uses commercial electrodes that can be polished, electrochemically cleaned and assembled in the cell. Previous designs use evaporated metallic thin fill on glass, increasing the cost of each experiment, and limitations of the electrodes to study (ie. single crystals). In addition, this design does not require a special sample holder; it can fit a commercially available 2" diameter mirror mount.