An Improved Potentiostat/Galvanostat for Undergraduate-Designed Electrochemical Laboratories

• Published in: Journal of chemical education Vol. 101; no. 4; pp. 1703 - 1710
• Main Author: Elias, Joseph S.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Easton American Chemical Society and Division of Chemical Education, Inc 09.04.2024; American Chemical Society
• Subjects: Curricula; Electrocatalysis; Electrochemistry; Feedback; Graphical user interface; Inorganic Chemistry; Modular design; Modular equipment; Ohmic drop; Organic Chemistry; Positive feedback; Potentiostats; Renewable energy; Science activities; Signal averaging; Teachers; First-Year Undergraduate/General; Hands-On Learning/Manipulatives; Upper-Division Undergraduate; Laboratory Instruction; Laboratory Equipment/Apparatus; Second-Year Undergraduate; Interdisciplinary/Multidisciplinary; Electrochemistry; Inquiry-Based/Discovery Learning
• ISSN: 0021-9584; 1938-1328
• DOI: 10.1021/acs.jchemed.3c01044

We report the design of a low-cost electrochemical workstation and open-source graphical user interface capable of performing a variety of electrochemical methods in an undergraduate teaching laboratory. The instrumentbased on the popular Arduino microcontroller boardcan be constructed from common components for $40 USD. The modular design of the instrument enables instructors to employ it to fit the needs of their curricula and allows for the acquisition of potentiostatic and galvanostatic data. The incorporation of positive-feedback ohmic drop compensation into the hardware, coupled with the judicious use of signal-averaging within the user-friendly LabVIEW standalone program, allow us to acquire meaningful quantitative electrochemical data (e.g., Tafel slopes) comparable to much more expensive research-grade potentiostats. The companion program is available free of charge online and vastly improves the scope of electrochemical methods available to undergraduate laboratories. We demonstrate the versatility of this potentiostat/galvanostat by employing it in General Chemistry and Inorganic Chemistry courses in modules that touch on sustainability, renewable energy, and electrocatalysis. We hope these improvements will enable instructors to incorporate electroanalytical techniques into their undergraduate curricula and empower the next generation of scientists to take full advantage of these methods in their research.