Galvanostat

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A galvanostat is an electrical measuring device used in electrochemistry which works similarly to the related potentiostat . The galvanostat keeps electrical currents constant through an electrochemical cell and detects a resulting electrical voltage , while the potentiostat keeps an electrical voltage constant between electrodes and detects the electrical current resulting therefrom.

In principle, the galvanostat is a special design of a control amplifier , which has three electrodes on the electrochemical cell for the measurement: A working electrode , a low-resistance reference electrode and counter electrode, all of which are connected to a galvanic element to be examined during operation . In order to be able to drive the reference current through high-resistance electrochemical cells, the voltage source in the galvanostat is implemented as a variable high-voltage source .

The main applications for galvanostats are electrochemical studies. This includes, among other things, studies of chemical reactions that are caused by the electrical current, such as in electrolysis, or that are caused by an electrical current, such as in batteries or fuel cells .

literature

  • Christine Lefrou, Pierre Fabry, Jean-Claude Poignet: Electrochemistry: The Basics, With Examples. Springer Science & Business Media 2012, ISBN 3-642-3025-05 , p. 266.

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