CV measurements are most often used to assess the near-equilibrium properties of an electrode including:

• determining the maximum available charge for stimulation pulsing (charge-storage-capacity, CSC)
• identifying the presence of electro-active impurities and contaminants
• assessing electrolyte leakage under insulation at electrode sites
• quantifying changes in the electrode during long-term stability studies
• studying redox processes at electrodes (e.g. protein oxidation or oxygen reduction)

Cyclic voltammetry (CV) is a 3-electrode measurement in which the potential of the test electrode is driven
at a constant sweep rate with respect to a non-current carrying reference electrode. The current required to
change the test electrode potential is provided by a counterelectrode and the CV is constructed from the
test electrode potential and current. It is important to appreciate that the CV response, for any electrode,
can appear very different depending on the sweep rate, the geometric area of the electrode, and the
roughness of the electrode, even though the electrochemical reactions are unchanged.

Making A CV Measurement

Examples Of Cyclic Voltammorgrams
see insert document A