Range of electrode potentials of a given working electrode in a given electrolyte, where the electric current from reactions of the electrode or electrolyte is negligible compared with the current from reactions of the system under investigation.

Table 1 Examples of approximate working potential ranges of various electrode materials.

Electrode material	Potential range in given medium (vs \(\boldsymbol{\ce{Ag}|\ce{AgCl}|\pu{3 M}\ \ce{KCl}}\) for aqueous systems). Note \(\boldsymbol{\pu{1 M} = \pu{1 mol L-1}}\).
\(\ce{Pt}\)	\(\pu{-0.8}\) to \(\pu{+1.3 V}\) in \(\ce{NaOH}\) (\(\pu{1 M}\)) 0 to \(\pu{+1.7 V}\) in \(\ce{H2SO4}\) (\(\pu{1 M}\)) range: \(\pu{+4.7 V}\) in (\(\ce{(C4H9)4NClO4}\) in acetonitrile (\(\pu{1 M}\)) range: \(\pu{+5.3 V}\) in 1-hexyl-3-methylimidazolium trifluorotris(pentafluoroethyl)phosphate
\(\ce{Au}\)	\(\pu{-0.4}\) to \(\pu{+1.2 V}\) in \(\ce{H2SO4}\) (\(\pu{1 M}\))
\(\ce{C}\)	\(\pu{-1.0}\) to \(\pu{+1.0 V}\) in \(\ce{KCl}\) (\(\pu{0.1 M}\)), 0 to \(\pu{+2.0 V}\) in \(\ce{HClO4}\) (\(\pu{1 M}\))
\(\ce{Hg}\)	\(\pu{-2.0}\) to \(\pu{+0.2 V}\) in \(\ce{NaOH}\) (\(\pu{1 M}\)), \(\pu{-1.0}\) to \(\pu{+0.4 V}\) in \(\ce{H2SO4}\) (\(\pu{1 M}\))
boron-doped diamond	\(\pu{-2.5}\) to \(\pu{+2.5 V}\) in \(\pu{0.1 M}\) acetate buffer \(\pu{pH 5}\)