Hot Microelectrodes

Abstract

Heat generation at disk microelectrodes by a high-amplitude (few volt) and high-frequency (0.1−2 GHz) alternating voltage is described. This method allows changing electrode temperature very rapidly and maintaining it well above the boiling point of solution for a very long time without any indication of boiling. The size of the hot zone in solution is determined by the radius of the electrode. There is no obvious limit in regard to the electrode size, so theoretically, by this method, it should be possible to create hot spots that are much smaller than those created with laser beams. That could lead to potential applications in medicine and biology. The heat-generating waveform does not electrically interfere with normal electroanalytical measurements. The noise level at hot microelectrodes is only slightly higher, as compared to normal microelectodes, but diffusion-controlled currents at hot microelectrodes may be up to 7 times higher, and an enhancement of kinetically controlled currents may be even larger. Hot microelectrodes can be used for end-column detection in capillary electrophoresis and for in-line or in vivo analyses. Temperature gradients at hot microelectrodes may exceed 1.5 × 10⁵ K/cm, which makes them useful in studies of Soret diffusion and thermoelectric phenomena.