Title: three-electrode cell
Long Title: IUPAC Gold Book - three-electrode cell
DOI: 10.1351/goldbook.09081
Status: current

Definition
Electrochemical cell with a working electrode, reference electrode, and auxiliary electrode.Schematic of a three-electrode cell. 1 - working electrode, 2 - reference electrode, 3 - auxiliary electrode. The potential between 1 and 2 is set while passing and measuring current between 1 and 3.


Notes
1) Electric current flows between the working and auxiliary electrodes. Electrode potential may be measured between the working and reference electrodes.
2) A potentiostat can be used to maintain a potential difference between the working and reference electrodes.

Related Terms
- Electrochemical cell: https://goldbook.iupac.org//terms/view/09058
- potentiostat: https://goldbook.iupac.org//terms/view/09079

Source
- PAC, 2020, 92, 641. 'Terminology of Electrochemical Methods of Analysis (IUPAC Recommendations 2019)' on page 654 (https://doi.org/10.1515/pac-2018-0109)

Other Outputs
- html: https://goldbook.iupac.org/terms/view/09081/html
- json: https://goldbook.iupac.org/terms/view/09081/json
- xml: https://goldbook.iupac.org/terms/view/09081/xml

Citation: Citation: 'three-electrode cell' in IUPAC Compendium of Chemical Terminology, 5th ed. International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry; 2025. Online version 5.0.0, 2025. 10.1351/goldbook.09081
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Disclaimer: The International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) is continuously reviewing and, where needed, updating terms in the Compendium of Chemical Terminology (the IUPAC Gold Book). Users of these terms are encouraged to include the version of a term with its use and to check regularly for updates to term definitions that you are using.
Accessed: 2026-05-09T12:55:23+00:00