Amperiometric Sensor: Learn How It Works Internally

[ervays]

Hi,

I'm trying to understand how an amperiometric cell with 3 electrodes(working, reference, counter. All of them inside a electrolyte) works.

Till this point I get that when a gas reaches the working electrode a redox reaction happen and then it release electrons or charges that would cross through an external circuit to the counter that will make the opposite reaction to consume produce electrons.

I can't reach to understand what is the reference electrode or why it has to have a fixed potencial, or why the bias potential should be 0 between working and reference.

Summing up, is there anyone who has some information or knows where to find information about how an amperiometric sensors works internally(works very specifically).

Cheers!

 

[ervays]

Hi again,

I've been digging around on how amperiometric sensors works and I found a big problem for me to understand.Scenario: 2 electrodes anode and cathode. Connected each other by an external circuit. We know oxidation potential of both. So we can calculate the potential difference.

Now, this is the part that I don't understand, let's say that we have a difficult redox reaction(don't know what does it mean) and now we need to have the anode at a higher potential in order to have the current flowing from the anode to the cathode. What does this means?