Polarography
Polarografía
- Date
- 1922 · confidence high
- Place
- Charles University, Prague, Czechia
- Credited to
- Jaroslav Heyrovský
- Field
- Matter & energy
What it is
An electrochemical technique that measures the current flowing through a dropping-mercury electrode as a function of applied voltage. The peaks of the curve identify dissolved substances and measure their concentration.
The first polarogram was obtained on 10 February 1922; Heyrovský received the 1959 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for the method.
What it led to
- modern voltammetry in analytical chemistry
- the automatic recording polarograph built with Shikata in 1924
- trace analysis in medicine and industry