Microelectrodes for voltammetry-a personal historical perspective

Since the 1950s, the field of electrochemistry has undergone rejuvenation numerous times, attributed to such developments as the three-electrode potentiostat, the integrated circuit operational amplifier, surface modified electrodes, computer-based instrumentation, (ultra)microelectrodes, scanning microelectrode techniques, nanostructured materials, and powerful computational packages (such as COMSOL Multiphysics) that facilitate solution of complex diffusion problems. My own career has spanned nearly all of these renaissances in electrochemistry, but for this discourse, I select the development of microelectrodes as an example of how serendipity can alter the direction of one's research career. This is not a complete historical account of the development of microelectrodes but rather a personal perspective focusing on my own group's contributions to this area.