Pine AfterMath FAQ: Adjust For Reference Electrode

by admin | Jan 4, 2016 | Uncategorized

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How can I display data with respect to a standard reference electrode?
This FAQ applies to versions 1.2.3208 and greater.

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At this time there is no way to specify the type of reference electrode (e.g. $Ag/AgCl$ ) used in an experiment. Therefore, all experiment results are with respect to whatever electrode was actually used. That is, there is no automatic offsetting to adjust results to match any standard reference electrode (e.g. $NHE$ ).

However, it is possible to manually offset the data measurements (see sections below).

To manually offset the data measurements, the stable redox potential of the reference electrode is needed (click here for the potentials of various electrodes).

To illustrate, the potential for a single-junction $Ag/AgCl$ filled with saturated $\text{KCl vs NHE}$ is $199 \; mV$ . Therefore the offset is $-199 \; mV$ s ( in other words, voltage measured using the $Ag/AgCl$ was $199 \; mV$ greater than it would have been if an $NHE$ had been used ).

Further explanation can be found here and a conversion calculator here.