PG581
Potentiostat - Galvanostat
The new Potentiostat - Galvanostat model PG581 from Uniscan Instruments heralds the next chapter in the development of portable electrochemistry and corrosion instrumentation.
The instrument is a compact and powerful hand-held potentiostat - galvanostat with remarkable performance and is at home either in the laboratory or as a user configurable instrument for field use. The design of the PG581 makes it ideally suited for the in-field development of electrochemical sensor technologies and as a cost effective portable electrochemical and corrosion analyzer.
The PG581 is connected to a PC via its USB port in the laboratory for electrochemical experiments such as cyclic voltammetry, chronoamperometry and square wave voltammetry with unsurpassed ultra low noise performance. In addition you can now upload those same techniques directly to the PG581 to collect data in the field without a computer.
The PG581 also provides support for the routine electrochemical corrosion techniques such a LRP, Tafel and Potentiodynamic Polarisation in the laboratory or in the field.
Key features of the PG581
- Portable hand held potentiostat and galvanostat operation.
- Real time plotting of experimental data on graphics screen.
- Data storage on removable miniSD card.
- Research grade performance.
- Use stand-alone with internal rechargeable battery power.
- USB connectivity to PC for laboratory based experiments.
- Windows™ compatible software with full suite of electrochemical and corrosion techniques.
- Connection for up to 5 Working Electrodes (multiplexed).
- User programmable techniques via powerful macro-programming language.
Using the device connected to a PC for advanced experiments
In this mode of operation, the instrument is remotely controlled by a PC. Standard electrochemical and corrosion experiments can be executed. Advanced experimental protocols can easily be construction with the easy to use autosequencing routine. The experimental parameters and data display are implemented on the PC in a Windows™ software application which provides full, detailed graphs, and filing of data objects. The powerful macro programming facility provided in the software allows the definition of custom experiments, data manipulation and display.
Stand-alone operation with internal battery power
In this mode of operation the PG581 can be programmed to perform a specific measurement technique via Windows™ software on a PC. The experimental technique and parameters are created with the UiEChem™ or UiECorr™software and uploaded via the USB connection to the instrument. Disconnect the USB cable and the PG581 is ready to run the experiment at the push of a button.
Potentiostats have historically found use in the laboratory in a range of electrochemical and corrosion research. The PG581 allows the user to escape the confines of a laboratory based environment.
Unmodified Screen Printed Carbon Electrode
Also available for the Model PG581 is a SPCE for sensor development applications. The sensors comprise a standard three electrode configuration with a carbon working and counter electrode and an Ag/AgCl reference electrode. These base sensors are available in multiples of 25, 50 or more, with a separately available screened sensor connector for easy connection to the PG581.
A range of available off the shelf or custom made direct sensor connectors makes the PG581 a truly portable device.
Multiplexed Electrochemical Measurements
The latest version of the UiEChem™ or UiECorr™ software packages allow the user to easily set up the experiment protocol to address up to five working electrodes.
A multiplexer is an electronic switch which under computer control automatically moves the control and acquisition circuits of the single channel potentiostat from one working electrode to another. The Model PG581 has a built in multiplexer. To access the multiplexer requires the use of the PG581-2 cable. The PG581-2, 5-WE cable set is shown here. It has 5 working electrode connections, one counter electrode (CE), one reference electrode (RE) and an earth connection. A technical sales supplement (TSS#13) is available and describes the use of the PG581 5-WE cable in performing electrochemistry and corrosion experiments.
