Hi everyone
We have a few potentiostats in our lab, with different working voltage (or control voltage), and compliance voltage specifications. e.g. SRS EC301 lists +/- 15 V working voltage and +/- 32 V compliance voltage. We are able to take our working electrode till 15 V and the voltage between working/counter till 32 V. Likewise for Parstat or Versastat.
In the case of biologic VSP 300, with 1A/48V booster, we are able to take the working electrode till 48 V (just as a test), but the reference to counter voltage maxes out at 10 V, and flags overload at higher voltages. What we learnt from the company is that this is a part of the design. So, technically the potential between working and counter can go till 48 V, but the potential between reference and counter terminal cannot exceed 10V, even if the potential between ref and working is (e.g.) 2 V.
So, when we use a cell for CO2RR studies in a H-Cell, with a ion permeable membrane between the chambers, with a working voltage of -2.X V, we hit the overload. To perform chronoamperometric studies, we have found a hack. Since our working voltage is < 10 V, we can connect the actual working electrode to counter terminal, keep the reference electrode near this, and connect the Pt foil counter electrode to the working electrode terminal, and apply the current (with opposite polarity). We can monitor the voltage between reference and counter terminals using a data logger.
However, this trick cannot be used for experiments with potential controls. Have any of you encountered this issue? If you found a way to solve this, can you please share the details?
Thank you in advance!
Dear S. Ramanathan , thank you for your question.
To make sure I understand I need to ask you some additional questions and confirmations:
. You hit overload because the voltage between the reference and the counter is over 10 V when the voltage between the working and the reference is "-2.X V" ?
. What do you mean by "a working voltage of -2.X V" ? Do you mean a voltage between the working and the reference of minimum -2.99 V ?
. Are you using the 1A/48 V booster in your hack ?
. You should be able to record Ece without a data logger in EC-Lab...
Thanks for your clarifications, maybe a scheme might help me understand your issue. If it is easier for you, you can write to me at this address: [email protected]
Thank you !
best regards,
Nicolas
Thanks for the response.
1. What do you mean by "a working voltage of -2.X V" ? Do you mean a voltage between the working and the reference of minimum -2.99 V ?
It is between -2 to -3 V. For this example, we can take it as -2.5 V.
2. Are you using the 1A/48 V booster in your hack ?
Yes, we are using 1A/48 V booster in this arrangement
3. You should be able to record Ece without a data logger in EC-Lab..
We will check that.
I am attaching two schematics here. The first case is our actual experiment in a H-Cell. The second case is a circuit we tried. In both cases, the potential between working and counter electrodes is less than 48 V, but the equipment overloads and aborts the experiment
Thank you for your help
Dear Mr. Ramanathan, the solution is to use the 48V booster in standard mode, not with +/-48 V control (See attached picture). In standard mode, the booster allows a 48V compliance (Ewe-Ece) and a maximum of 10 V for the Ewe voltage (maximum of Ece voltage being 38 V in that case). I hope this is clear, let me know if it s not the case. Best regards, Nicolas
Thank you. It is working as you described.
By the way, we are not able to find this configuration anywhere in the manual. The only depiction of booster connection shows +/-48 V selection. Biologic may want to include a description of both options, and their implications, in the manual.
Thanks again.
Dear S. Ramanathan yes it will be added in the manual. Thank you, Best regards, Nicolas
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