Best Practices
A curated index of best-practice, protocol, and tutorial literature for interfacial electrochemistry and electrocatalysis, i.e., recommendations on how electrochemical measurements should be performed, reported, and reproduced.
The works are grouped by topic and sorted by year, most recent first. Click a column header to sort a table by that column. A work that is relevant to several topics is listed in each of them.
Recommendations on data, metadata, and reproducibility that are not specific to electrochemistry are collected separately in cross-domain references.
Measurement practice
Basic electrochemistry and measurement practice
| Title | Year | Reference |
|---|---|---|
| Navigating iR Compensation: Practical Considerations for Accurate Study of Oxygen Evolution Catalytic Electrodes | 2023 | Son et al. |
| iR Compensation for Electrocatalysis Studies: Considerations and Recommendations | 2023 | Zheng |
| Getting the Basics Right: Preparing Alkaline Electrolytes for Electrochemical Applications | 2023 | Márquez et al. |
| Why Careful iR Compensation and Reporting of Electrode Potentials Are Critical for the CO₂ Reduction Reaction | 2022 | Heenan et al. |
| Applicability of Platinum as a Counter-Electrode Material in Electrocatalysis Research | 2022 | Jerkiewicz |
| Potentially Confusing: Potentials in Electrochemistry | 2021 | Boettcher et al. |
| The Pitfalls of Using Potentiodynamic Polarization Curves for Tafel Analysis in Electrocatalytic Water Splitting | 2021 | Anantharaj et al. |
| Caustic Soda Production, Energy Efficiency, and Electrolyzers | 2021 | Kumar et al. |
| The pH of Aqueous NaOH/KOH Solutions: A Critical and Non-trivial Parameter for Electrocatalysis | 2021 | Hausmann et al. |
| Metal–Organic Frameworks for Electrocatalysis: Catalyst or Precatalyst? | 2021 | Zheng & Lee |
| How to Reliably Report the Overpotential of an Electrocatalyst | 2020 | Niu et al. |
| Standard and Reversible Hydrogen Electrodes: Theory, Design, Operation, and Applications | 2020 | Jerkiewicz |
| Reliable Counter Electrodes for the Hydrogen Evolution Reaction in Acidic Media | 2020 | Lee & Bang |
| Effect of Dissolved Glassware on the Structure-Sensitive Part of the Cu(111) Voltammogram in KOH | 2019 | Tiwari et al. |
Reference electrodes, potential scales and internal standards
| Title | Year | Reference |
|---|---|---|
| Potentially Confusing: Potentials in Electrochemistry | 2021 | Boettcher et al. |
| Standard and Reversible Hydrogen Electrodes: Theory, Design, Operation, and Applications | 2020 | Jerkiewicz |
| Voltammetric and spectroscopic study of ferrocene and hexacyanoferrate and the suitability of their redox couples as internal standards in ionic liquids | 2017 | Frenzel, Hartley & Frisch |
| Conversion constants for redox potentials measured versus different reference electrodes in acetonitrile solutions at 25 °C | 2000 | Pavlishchuk & Addison |
| The Decamethylferrocenium/Decamethylferrocene Redox Couple: A Superior Redox Standard | 1999 | Noviandri et al. |
| Chemical Redox Agents for Organometallic Chemistry | 1996 | Connelly & Geiger |
| Recommendations on reporting electrode potentials in nonaqueous solvents | 1984 | Gritzner & Kůta |
| Ferrocene as an Internal Standard for Electrochemical Measurements | 1980 | Gagné et al. |
Operando and in situ measurements
| Title | Year | Reference |
|---|---|---|
| Rigor and Reproducibility in Electrocatalysis: Best Practices for Operando Studies | 2026 | Tackett et al. |
| Best Practices for In-Situ and Operando Techniques within Electrocatalytic Systems | 2025 | Prajapati et al. |
| Potential Pitfalls in the Operando XAS Study of Oxygen Evolution Electrocatalysts | 2022 | Diklić et al. |
Variable-temperature electrochemistry
| Title | Year | Reference |
|---|---|---|
| Best Practices for Variable-Temperature Electrochemistry Experiments and Data Reporting | 2025 | De et al. |
Electrodes and surfaces
Surface area determination
| Title | Year | Reference |
|---|---|---|
| The Hidden Complexities of Electrochemically Active Surface Area Measurements | 2026 | Mygind, Rost & Escudero-Escribano |
| Rigor & Reproducibility in Electrocatalysis: Approaches and Considerations for Surface Area Normalization | 2026 | Bates et al. |
| Approaches for measuring the surface areas of metal oxide electrocatalysts for determining their intrinsic electrocatalytic activity | 2019 | Wei et al. |
| Do the Evaluation Parameters Reflect Intrinsic Activity of Electrocatalysts in Electrochemical Water Splitting? | 2019 | Anantharaj & Kundu |
| Electrochemical Methods of Real Surface Area Determination of Noble Metal Electrodes — an Overview | 2016 | Łukaszewski et al. |
| Real surface area measurements in electrochemistry | 1991 | Trasatti & Petrii |
Well-defined surfaces and single-crystal electrochemistry
| Title | Year | Reference |
|---|---|---|
| Who Will Keep the Vacuum Pumping? The Need to Sustain UHV-Based Surface Science in Electrocatalysis | 2026 | Kibsgaard |
| Single Crystal Electrochemistry as an In Situ Analytical Characterization Tool | 2020 | Climent & Feliu |
| Effect of Dissolved Glassware on the Structure-Sensitive Part of the Cu(111) Voltammogram in KOH | 2019 | Tiwari et al. |
| Non-covalent interactions in water electrolysis: influence on the activity of Pt(111) and iridium oxide catalysts in acidic media | 2015 | Ganassin et al. |
| Electrochemistry at gold nanoparticles deposited on dendrimers assemblies adsorbed onto gold and platinum surfaces | 2011 | Fang et al. |
| Thirty years of platinum single crystal electrochemistry | 2011 | Climent & Feliu |
| The adsorption of sulfate and phosphate on Au(111) and Au(100) electrodes: an in situ STM study | 2000 | Cuesta, Kleinert & Kolb |
| Cyclic voltammetry at gold single-crystal surfaces. Part 1. Behaviour at low-index faces | 1996 | Hamelin |
Reactions and devices
Water electrolysis and HER/OER/ORR electrocatalysis
| Title | Year | Reference |
|---|---|---|
| A Guide to Electrocatalyst Stability Using Lab-Scale Alkaline Water Electrolyzers | 2024 | Marquez et al. |
| Getting the Basics Right: Preparing Alkaline Electrolytes for Electrochemical Applications | 2023 | Márquez et al. |
| Navigating iR Compensation: Practical Considerations for Accurate Study of Oxygen Evolution Catalytic Electrodes | 2023 | Son et al. |
| Unveiling the Pitfalls of Comparing Oxygen Reduction Reaction Kinetic Data for Pd-Based Electrocatalysts without the Experimental Conditions of the Current–Potential Curves | 2022 | Wang et al. |
| Comparing the Intrinsic HER Activity of Transition Metal Dichalcogenides: Pitfalls and Suggestions | 2021 | Wu & Hofmann |
| The Pitfalls of Using Potentiodynamic Polarization Curves for Tafel Analysis in Electrocatalytic Water Splitting | 2021 | Anantharaj et al. |
| The pH of Aqueous NaOH/KOH Solutions: A Critical and Non-trivial Parameter for Electrocatalysis | 2021 | Hausmann et al. |
| Reliable Counter Electrodes for the Hydrogen Evolution Reaction in Acidic Media | 2020 | Lee & Bang |
| Best Practices in Using Foam-Type Electrodes for Electrocatalytic Performance Benchmark | 2020 | Zheng et al. |
| Good practice guide for papers on fuel cells and electrolysis cells | 2020 | Chatenet et al. |
| Do the Evaluation Parameters Reflect Intrinsic Activity of Electrocatalysts in Electrochemical Water Splitting? | 2019 | Anantharaj & Kundu |
| Recommended Practices and Benchmark Activity for Hydrogen and Oxygen Electrocatalysis in Water Splitting and Fuel Cells | 2019 | Wei et al. |
| Best Practices for Reporting Electrocatalytic Performance of Nanomaterials | 2018 | Voiry et al. |
| Best Practices in Pursuit of Topics in Heterogeneous Electrocatalysis | 2017 | Chen et al. |
| Toward Benchmarking in Catalysis Science: Best Practices, Challenges, and Opportunities | 2016 | Bligaard et al. |
| Benchmarking Hydrogen Evolving Reaction and Oxygen Evolving Reaction Electrocatalysts for Solar Water Splitting Devices | 2015 | McCrory et al. |
| Benchmarking Heterogeneous Electrocatalysts for the Oxygen Evolution Reaction | 2013 | McCrory et al. |
Carbon dioxide reduction
| Title | Year | Reference |
|---|---|---|
| A Guideline to Determine Faradaic Efficiency in Electrochemical CO₂ Reduction | 2024 | Duta et al. |
| A Guide to Evaluate Electrolyte Purity for CO₂ Reduction Studies | 2023 | Cui et al. |
| An Advanced Guide to Assembly and Operation of CO₂ Electrolyzers | 2023 | Iglesias van Montfort et al. |
| Best practices for electrochemical reduction of carbon dioxide | 2023 | Seger et al. |
| How membrane characteristics influence the performance of CO₂ and CO electrolysis | 2022 | Garg et al. |
| Why Careful iR Compensation and Reporting of Electrode Potentials Are Critical for the CO₂ Reduction Reaction | 2022 | Heenan et al. |
| Voltage Matters When Reducing CO₂ in an Electrochemical Flow Cell | 2020 | Salvatore & Berlinguette |
| Addressing the Interfacial Properties for CO Electroreduction on Cu with Cyclic Voltammetry | 2020 | Sebastián-Pascual & Escudero-Escribano |
| Integrating CO₂ Electrolysis into the Gas-to-Liquids–Power-to-Liquids Process | 2020 | van Bavel et al. |
| Bicarbonate or Carbonate Processes for Coupling Carbon Dioxide Capture and Electrochemical Conversion | 2020 | Welch et al. |
| Towards accelerated durability testing protocols for CO₂ electrolysis | 2020 | Nwabara et al. |
| Introductory Guide to Assembling and Operating Gas Diffusion Electrodes for Electrochemical CO₂ Reduction | 2019 | Liu et al. |
| Standards and Protocols for Data Acquisition and Reporting for Studies of the Electrochemical Reduction of Carbon Dioxide | 2018 | Clark et al. |
Nitrogen reduction
| Title | Year | Reference |
|---|---|---|
| Identification, Quantification, and Elimination of NOₓ and NH₃ Impurities for Aqueous and Li-Mediated Nitrogen Reduction Experiments | 2023 | Izelaar et al. |
| Energy-Efficient Ammonia Production from Air and Water Using Electrocatalysts with Limited Faradaic Efficiency | 2020 | Hollevoet et al. |
| The Difficulty of Proving Electrochemical Ammonia Synthesis | 2019 | Kibsgaard, Nørskov & Chorkendorff |
| Electrochemical Nitrogen Reduction: Identification and Elimination of Contamination in Electrolyte | 2019 | Li et al. |
Organic electrosynthesis
| Title | Year | Reference |
|---|---|---|
| A guide to troubleshooting metal sacrificial anodes for organic electrosynthesis | 2024 | Ware et al. |
| Understanding the effects of forced and bubble-induced convection in transport-limited organic electrosynthesis | 2024 | Bloomquist et al. |
| Advanced Electroanalysis for Electrosynthesis | 2023 | Brachi et al. |
| Reproducibility in Electroorganic Synthesis — Myths and Misunderstandings | 2021 | Beil, Pollok & Waldvogel |
| A Survival Guide for the “Electro-curious” | 2020 | Kingston et al. |
| Electro-organic synthesis — a 21st century technique | 2020 | Pollok & Waldvogel |
| Organic electrosynthesis: from academia to industry | 2020 | Leech et al. |
| The Fundamentals Behind the Use of Flow Reactors in Electrochemistry | 2019 | Noël, Cao & Laudadio |
| Electrifying Organic Synthesis | 2018 | Wiebe et al. |
| Modern Electrochemical Aspects for the Synthesis of Value-Added Organic Products | 2018 | Möhle et al. |
| Flow Electrolysis Cells for the Synthetic Organic Chemistry Laboratory | 2018 | Pletcher, Green & Brown |
| Synthetic Organic Electrochemical Methods Since 2000: On the Verge of a Renaissance | 2017 | Yan, Kawamata & Baran |
| Organic electrosynthesis: a promising green methodology in organic chemistry | 2010 | Frontana-Uribe et al. |
Batteries, supercapacitors and fuel cells
| Title | Year | Reference |
|---|---|---|
| Workflows and principles for collaboration and communication in battery research | 2026 | Kuhn et al. |
| The Importance of Basic Electrochemistry Terminology in the Era of Interdisciplinary Battery Research | 2024 | Editorial, Nature Nanotechnology |
| Navigating the minefield of battery literature | 2022 | Xu |
| An Experimental Checklist for Reporting Battery Performances | 2021 | Sun |
| A Minimal Information Set to Enable Verifiable Theoretical Battery Research | 2021 | Mistry et al. |
| Good practice guide for papers on batteries for the Journal of Power Sources | 2020 | Li et al. |
| Good practice guide for papers on supercapacitors and related hybrid capacitors | 2020 | Arbizzani et al. |
| Good practice guide for papers on fuel cells and electrolysis cells | 2020 | Chatenet et al. |
| Methods and Protocols for Reliable Electrochemical Testing in Post-Li Batteries (Na, K, Mg, and Ca) | 2019 | Dugas et al. |
| Recommended Practices and Benchmark Activity for Hydrogen and Oxygen Electrocatalysis in Water Splitting and Fuel Cells | 2019 | Wei et al. |
Reporting and rigour
Cross-cutting pitfalls
| Title | Year | Reference |
|---|---|---|
| Who Will Keep the Vacuum Pumping? The Need to Sustain UHV-Based Surface Science in Electrocatalysis | 2026 | Kibsgaard |
| Potential Pitfalls in the Operando XAS Study of Oxygen Evolution Electrocatalysts | 2022 | Diklić et al. |
| Why Seeing Is Not Always Believing: Common Pitfalls in Photocatalysis and Electrocatalysis | 2021 | Christopher, Jin, Sivula & Kamat |
Reproducibility, uncertainty and rigour
| Title | Year | Reference |
|---|---|---|
| Rigor & Reproducibility in Electrocatalysis: Integrating Theory and Experiment | 2026 | Árnadóttir et al. |
| Experimental choices shape electrocatalytic data: reproducibility and validity for researchers new to electrocatalysis | 2026 | Jung et al. |
| Reporting for Reproducibility in Electrocatalysis | 2026 | Clark & Escudero-Escribano |
| Rigor and Reproducibility in Electrocatalysis: Best Practices for Operando Studies | 2026 | Tackett et al. |
| Rigor & Reproducibility in Electrocatalysis: Approaches and Considerations for Surface Area Normalization | 2026 | Bates et al. |
| Reproducibility in Electrocatalysis (NiFe OER interlaboratory study) | 2025 | Hausmann et al. |
| Reproducibility of Electrochemical Measurements with Ionic Liquids: Role of Supplied Batches, Water and Adventitious Oxygen | 2025 | Heubach et al. |
| Error, reproducibility and uncertainty in experiments for electrochemical energy technologies | 2022 | Smith & Dickinson |
| A Minimal Information Set to Enable Verifiable Theoretical Battery Research | 2021 | Mistry et al. |
| Reproducibility in Electroorganic Synthesis — Myths and Misunderstandings | 2021 | Beil, Pollok & Waldvogel |
Terminology, nomenclature and IUPAC recommendations
| Title | Year | Reference |
|---|---|---|
| The Importance of Basic Electrochemistry Terminology in the Era of Interdisciplinary Battery Research | 2024 | Editorial, Nature Nanotechnology |
| Terminology of electrochemical methods of analysis (IUPAC Recommendations 2019) | 2020 | Pingarrón et al. |
| Nomenclature, symbols and definitions in electrochemical engineering | 1993 | Gritzner & Kreysa |
| Recommendations on reporting electrode potentials in nonaqueous solvents | 1984 | Gritzner & Kůta |
| Electrode Reaction Orders, Transfer Coefficients and Rate Constants. Amplification of Definitions and Recommendations for Publication of Parameters | 1980 | Parsons |
| Manual of Symbols and Terminology for Physicochemical Quantities and Units. Appendix III: Electrochemical Nomenclature | 1974 | Parsons |
Journal, publisher and vendor guidelines
| Title | Year | Reference |
|---|---|---|
| Revised the Instructions for Authors for Electrochemistry | 2025 | Editorial Office, Electrochemistry (ECSJ) |
| Tutorials in Electrochemistry: Electrocatalysis (collection editorial, the source of sections 1-5) | 2024 | Kamat |
| An Essential Guide to the Best Laboratory Practices for Electrochemistry | 2024 | BioLogic Science Instruments |
| New Guidelines for Presenting Electrochemical Data in All ACS Journals | 2023 | Minteer et al. |
| Good practice guide for papers on batteries for the Journal of Power Sources | 2020 | Li et al. |
| Good practice guide for papers on supercapacitors and related hybrid capacitors | 2020 | Arbizzani et al. |
| Good practice guide for papers on fuel cells and electrolysis cells | 2020 | Chatenet et al. |
Computational and theoretical modelling
| Title | Year | Reference |
|---|---|---|
| Atomistic Modeling for Electrochemical Reactions: From the State of the Art to a Strategic Roadmap for Future Research within EU-CONCERT | 2026 | Doblhoff-Dier et al. |
| Methodological Frameworks for Computational Electrocatalysis: From Theory to Practice | 2026 | Re Fiorentin et al. |
| Rigor & Reproducibility in Electrocatalysis: Integrating Theory and Experiment | 2026 | Árnadóttir et al. |
| A Minimal Information Set to Enable Verifiable Theoretical Battery Research | 2021 | Mistry et al. |
Education and tutorials
| Title | Year | Reference |
|---|---|---|
| Experimental choices shape electrocatalytic data: reproducibility and validity for researchers new to electrocatalysis | 2026 | Jung et al. |
| An Essential Guide to the Best Laboratory Practices for Electrochemistry | 2024 | BioLogic Science Instruments |
| Single Crystal Electrochemistry as an In Situ Analytical Characterization Tool | 2020 | Climent & Feliu |
| A Survival Guide for the “Electro-curious” | 2020 | Kingston et al. |
| A Practical Beginner’s Guide to Cyclic Voltammetry | 2018 | Elgrishi et al. |
| Voltammetric techniques of analysis: the essentials | 2015 | Scholz |
| Thirty years of platinum single crystal electrochemistry | 2011 | Climent & Feliu |
References
All references listed on this page and on its companion page are available as a single BibTeX file, bibliography.bib.
The collection is non-exhaustive. Do you know a work that should be listed here? See suggest a link.