Nomenclature of stripping voltammetry

Problems in selecting an effective nomenclature for stripping voltammetry are discussed. Stripping voltammetry is a two-step process, accumulation and determination, and the technique can be considered to be a ‘hyphenated technique’. The method of determination is usually given in naming the particular technique, but often the method of accumulation is not. To indicate simply, in formal nomenclature, the nature of the method of accumulation is often difficult, and in some cases intermediate steps are involved also. A method of describing, as an acronym, the chemistry involved in individual cases is outlined. A case is made, however, for using the simple terms cathodic stripping voltammetry (CSV) and anodic stripping voltammetry (ASV) in straightforward cases, even when adsorptive accumulation is used. In more complex cases the use of the term stripping voltammetry (SV) is suggested, without attempting to indicate the method of accumulation or whether the method of determination is cathodic or anodic (or tensammetric). The suggestions made in this communication are those of the author alone, and the communication is put forward as one preliminary document to aid a wider discussion of the subject of the nomenclature of stripping voltammetry.