Editor\u27s note

This special issue is the second part of the proceedings of the 6th Regional Symposium on Electrochemistry – South East Europe (RSE–SEE 6), held in Balatonkenese, Hungary, from 11−15 June 2017 (part 1 has been published in J. Electrochem. Sci. Eng. 8(1) (2018)). These are some of the best papers presented at the RSE-SEE 6 meeting and reflect the broad interests of the electrochemical community, including both new techniques and application areas. Since its start in 2008, the series of RSE-SEE symposia provides a stimulating international forum for electrochemistry researchers to share their current research results. Following this tradition, more than 110 participants from 24 countries presented papers in Balatonkenese and discussed recent progress in electrochemistry and electrochemical engineering. I would like to thank the authors for their contribution, the reviewers for their professional work and the jESE-Editorial Office for their assistance in the Proceedings publication. Also, I would like to acknowledge the financial and other support of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, the International Society of Electrochemistry, the Furukawa Electric Group, Jászplasztik, Ametek, Zahner, Metrohm, PalmSens, Ivium, and Paks Nuclear Power Plant. The next 7th Regional Symposium on Electrochemistry – South East Europe will be organized jointly with the 8th Kurt Schwabe Symposium in Croatia in the late spring of 2019

Editorial: 6th Regional Symposium on Electrochemistry – South East Europe (RSE–SEE)

This special issue of the Journal of Electrochemical Science and Engineering (jESE) is dedicated to selected papers contributed to the 6th Regional Symposium on Electrochemistry – South East Europe (RSE–SEE), held in Balatonkenese, Hungary, from 11-15 June 2017. This issue constitutes Part 1 of the proceedings of the Symposium (6 articles). Part 2 will appear in the next issue of jESE

Properties of atmospheric humic-like substances ─ water system

Urban-type PM_2.5-fraction aerosol samples were collected and samples of pure atmospheric humic-like substances (HULIS) were isolated from them. Atmospheric concentrations of organic carbon (OC), water soluble organic carbon (WSOC) and HULIS were determined, and UV/Vis spectroscopic properties, solubility and conductivity of HULIS in aqueous samples were investigated. Atmospheric concentrations of OC and WSOC were 8.5 and 4.6 μg m^−3, respectively. Hydrophilic WSOC accounted for 39% of WSOC, carbon in HULIS made up 47% of WSOC, and 14% of WSOC was retained on the separation column by irreversible adsorption. Overall average molecular mass and aromatic carbon abundance of HULIS were estimated from molar absorptivity to be 556 Da and 12%, respectively. Both results are substantially smaller than for standard reference fulvic acids, which imply different mechanisms for the formation processes of atmospheric HULIS and aquatic or terrestrial humic matter. HULIS were found to be water soluble as ionic unimers with a saturation concentration of 2–3 g l^−1. Their solubility increased again with total HULIS concentration being above approximately 4 g l^−1, which was most likely explained by the formation of HULIS aggregates. Solubility increased linearly from approximately 5 up to 20 g l^−1 of dissolved HULIS concentration. The ionic dissolution was confirmed by electrochemical conductivity in the investigated concentration interval. Limiting molar conductivity was extrapolated and this was utilized to determine the apparent dissociation degree of HULIS for different concentrations. The dissociation degree was further applied to derive the concentration dependence of the van't Hoff factor of HULIS. The van't Hoff factor decreased monotonically with HULIS concentration; the decrease was substantial for dilute solutions and the relationship became weak for rather concentrated solutions

Electrochemical behaviour of poly(3,4-ethylenedioxytiophene) modified glassy carbon electrodes after overoxidation − the influence of the substrate on the charge transfer resistance

Time dependence of the electrochemical impedance of an overoxidized glassy carbon|poly(3,4-ethylenedioxytiophene) (PEDOT)|0.1 mol·dm-3 sulfuric acid (aq.) elec-trode has been investigated. To follow the changes occurring at the film/substrate interface after the overoxidation procedure, successive impedance measurements were carried out. Although the system is intrinsically nonstationary, the charge transfer resis-tance (Rct) corresponding to different time instants could be determined by using the so-called 4-dimensional analysis method. The same post-experimental mathematiccal/ana-lytical procedure could be used also for the estimation of the charge transfer resistance corresponding to the time instant just after overoxidation of the PEDOT film. The increase of the charge transfer resistance of the overoxidized system with respect to that of the pristine electrode suggests that during overoxidation the electrochemical activity of the film decreases and the charge transfer process at the metal/film interface beco-mes more hindered. After the overoxidation procedure, when the electrode potential was held in the “stability region” (at E = 0.4 V vs. SSCE in the present case) the Rct decre-ased continuously with experiment time to a value somewhat higher than that of the pristine electrode. By comparing the properties of the GC|PEDOT|0.1 M H2SO4 and the Au|PEDOT|0.1 M H2SO4 electrodes a possible mechanistic explanation for the observed behavior has been proposed. This is based on the assumption that in the case of the GC|PEDOT|0.1 M H2SO4 electrode two processes may occur simultaneously during the impedance measurements: (a) reduction of the oxidized surface of the GC substrate, including the reduction of the oxygen-containing surface functionalities and (b) read-sorption of the polymer chains (polymer chain ends) on the surface

Wheat-barley hybridization – the last forty years

Abstract Several useful alien gene transfers have been reported from related species into wheat (Triticum aestivum), but very few publications have dealt with the development of wheat/barley (Hordeum vulgare) introgression lines. An overview is given here of wheat 9 barley hybridization over the last forty years, including the development of wheat 9 barley hybrids, and of addition and translocation lines with various barley cultivars. A short summary is also given of the wheat 9 barley hybrids produced with other Hordeum species. The meiotic pairing behaviour of wheat 9 barley hybrids is presented, with special regard to the detection of wheat– barley homoeologous pairing using the molecular cytogenetic technique GISH. The effect of in vitro multiplication on the genome composition of intergeneric hybrids is discussed, and the production and characterization of the latest wheat/barley translocation lines are presented. An overview of the agronomical traits (b-glucan content, earliness, salt tolerance, sprouting resistance, etc.) of the newly developed introgression lines is given. The exploitation and possible use of wheat/barley introgression lines for the most up-to-date molecular genetic studies (transcriptome analysis, sequencing of flow-sorted chromosomes) are also discussed