Claims
- 1. A method of determining the oxidation state of a compound, said method comprising:
disconnecting an electrode from an electrochemical cell comprising said compound to allow said cell to reach an open circuit potential (OCP); connecting said electrochemical cell to an externally applied potential equivalent to said open circuit potential; and detecting a resulting current if said current exists wherein the magnitude of said current is a measure of the oxidation state of said compound.
- 2. The method of claim 1, wherein said compound is oxidized and said open circuit potential is a reducing potential.
- 3. The method of claim 1, wherein said compound is reduced and said open circuit potential is an oxidizing potential.
- 4. The method of claim 1, wherein said disconnecting is for a period ranging from about 1 μs to about 1000 seconds.
- 5. The method of claim 1, wherein said disconnecting is for a period sufficient to dissipate charge in said cell.
- 6. The method of claim 1, wherein said disconnecting is for a period comparable to the RC time constant of said cell.
- 7. The method of claim 1, wherein said electrochemical cell a member of an array of electrochemical cells.
- 8. The method of claim 7, wherein said array of electrochemical cells comprises at least 100 electrochemical cells.
- 9. The method of claim 1, wherein said disconnecting and said connecting comprise disconnecting and connecting the same electrode.
- 10. The method of claim 1, wherein said disconnecting and said connecting comprise making or breaking an electrical connection.
- 11. The method of claim 1, wherein said disconnecting and said connecting comprise varying a resistance between an electrode and said cell.
- 12. The method of claim 1, wherein said open circuit potential varies from about ±0.001V to about ±5V.
- 13. The method of claim 1, wherein said compound has a multiplicity of different and distinguishable non-zero oxidation states.
- 14. The method of claim 1, wherein said potential is applied through a voltage follower.
- 15. The method of claim 1, wherein said potential is applied through a counter electrode while a working electrode is held at ground.
- 16. The method of claim 1, wherein said detecting comprises amplifying said current with a high bandwidth current amplifier.
- 17. The method of claim 1, wherein said detecting is with a current transducer.
- 18. A method of determining the oxidation state of a compound, said method comprising:
applying a series of incrementally increasing voltage pulses to said compound in an electrochemical cell; disconnecting an electrode from said electrochemical cell, after each pulse, to allow said cell to reach an open circuit potential (OCP); connecting said electrochemical cell to an externally applied potential equivalent to said open circuit potential; and detecting a resulting current if said current exists wherein the magnitude of said current is a measure of the oxidation state of said compound.
- 19. The method of claim 18, wherein said compound is oxidized and said open circuit potential is a reducing potential.
- 20. The method of claim 18, wherein said compound is reduced and said open circuit potential is an oxidizing potential.
- 21. The method of claim 18, wherein said disconnecting is for a period ranging from about 1 μs to about 1000 seconds.
- 22. The method of claim 18, wherein said disconnecting is for a period sufficient to dissipate charge in said cell.
- 23. The method of claim 18, wherein said disconnecting is for a period comparable to the RC time constant of said cell.
- 24. The method of claim 18, wherein said electrochemical cell a member of an array of electrochemical cells.
- 25. The method of claim 24, wherein said array of electrochemical cells comprises at least 100 electrochemical cells.
- 26. The method of claim 18, wherein said disconnecting and said connecting comprise disconnecting and connecting the same electrode.
- 27. The method of claim 18, wherein said disconnecting and said connecting comprise making or breaking an electrical connection.
- 28. The method of claim 18, wherein said disconnecting and said connecting comprise varying a resistance between an electrode and said cell.
- 29. The method of claim 18, wherein said open circuit potential varies from about ±0.01V to about ±5V.
- 30. The method of claim 18, wherein said compound has at least two different and distinguishable non-zero oxidation states.
- 31. The method of claim 18, wherein said potential is applied through a voltage follower.
- 32. The method of claim 18, wherein said detecting comprises amplifying said current with a high bandwidth current amplifier.
- 33. A device for the detection of an oxidation state of a compound, said device comprising:
a first electrode and a second electrode disposed to contact said compound and thereby form an electrochemical cell; a voltage source connected to said first electrode; a switch that allows said compound to be isolated from said voltage source and said electrochemical cell to reach an open circuit potential; and a current transducer for measuring current produced by said electrochemical cell.
- 34. The device of claim 33, wherein said device comprises two or more electrochemical cells.
- 35. The device of claim 34, wherein said device comprises ten or more electrochemical cells.
- 36. The device of claim 33, wherein said voltage source comprises a voltage follower.
- 37. The device of claim 33, wherein said current meter comprises a broadband current amplifier.
- 38. The device of claim 33, wherein said first electrode and said second electrode are disposed in a channel through which a fluid comprising said compound can pass.
- 39. The device of claim 38, wherein said channel is a capillary tube.
- 40. The device of claim 38, wherein said is a channel on a chip.
- 41. The device of claim 33, wherein said electrodes are disposed in a well.
- 42. The device of claim 33, wherein said electrodes are disposed on a biosensor.
- 43. The device of claim 33, wherein said electrodes are components of a molecular memory.
- 44. A molecular memory device comprising:
a first electrode and a second electrode disposed to contact a redox-active compound comprising a porphyrinic macrocycle and thereby form an electrochemical storage cell wherein said first and second electrodes are fixed electrodes; a voltage source connected to said first electrode; a switch that allows said compound to be isolated from said voltage source and said storage cell to reach an open circuit potential; and a current transducer for measuring current produced by said electrochemical cell.
- 45. The device of claim 44, wherein said device comprises two or more electrochemical cells.
- 46. The device of claim 45, wherein said device comprises ten or more electrochemical cells.
- 47. The device of claim 44, wherein said voltage source comprises a voltage follower.
- 48. The device of claim 44, wherein said current meter comprises a broadband current amplifier.
- 49. The device of claim 44, wherein said porphyrinic macrocycle is a porphyrin.
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] This application claims benefit of and priority to U.S. Ser. No. 60/278,555, filed on Mar. 23, 2001, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety for all purposes.
STATEMENT AS TO RIGHTS TO INVENTIONS MADE UNDER FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT
[0002] This work was supported by the DARPA Moletronics Program, administered by the Office of Naval Research (ONR) grant number N00014-99-0357. The government of the United States of America may have certain rights in this invention.
Provisional Applications (1)
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Number |
Date |
Country |
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60278555 |
Mar 2001 |
US |