Learning Center
Knowledge Library
112 Bio-Logic application notes, organised by the Entek technical team into 11 topic classes under question-driven headings. Scroll down each class page to see which measurement is made how and with which instrument, how it is interpreted and which mistakes to avoid. Discontinued instruments mentioned in the notes are marked and their current counterparts stated.
EIS: Fundamentals, Modelling and Data Quality
From the mathematics of impedance spectroscopy to reading Nyquist/Bode plots, equivalent circuits and Z Fit, and the indicators that validat…
26 topicsBattery Testing and Analysis
From GITT/PITT protocols to high-precision coulometry, from internal resistance and dQ/dV analysis to reference-electrode cells and pack/sta…
16 topicsSupercapacitors
Constant-current cycling, time constant and EIS for supercapacitor capacitance, ESR and energy/power characterisation; Ragone plots.…
4 topicsCorrosion and Coatings
From Tafel and polarisation resistance (Rp) to VASP/CASP, from electrochemical noise to pitting and concrete corrosion; the effect of ohmic …
10 topicsOhmic Drop and Potentiostat Fundamentals
Potentiostat stability, reference-electrode and cable parasitics, the effect of ohmic drop on measurements and its measurement and correctio…
4 topicsFuel Cells, Electrolysers and Flow Batteries
Polarisation (I/E) curves, EIS characterisation, platinum ECSA determination, high-current electrolyser measurements and vanadium redox flow…
5 topicsPhotovoltaics and Photoelectrochemistry
Polarisation, Mott-Schottky, capacitance-voltage and IMVS measurements on solar cells.…
3 topicsAnalytical Electrochemistry, Kinetics and Sensors
CV simulation, RDE/RRDE and Levich analysis, pulsed techniques (SWV/DPV/NPV), double-layer capacitance, QCM and spectroelectrochemistry coup…
10 topicsMaterials Science and Conductivity
Principles of conductivity measurement, comparison of DC/AC methods and ceramic characterisation with the MTZ-35 and a high-temperature samp…
3 topicsScanning Probe Systems (SECM, SKP, SVET, LEIS)
Position-resolved electrochemistry at surfaces: height tracking, ic/ac-SECM, SKP imaging, SVET, SDS, Foil Cell and the M470 software tools (…
26 topicsPhotosynthesis and Life Sciences (JTS Spectrometers)
Electron-flow, NPQ and electrochromic band-shift measurements in plants with Joliot-type JTS-10/JTS-150 pump-probe spectrometers. Representa…
5 topicsAll questions
The full list grouped by class. Clicking takes you to the answer on the class page.
EIS: Fundamentals, Modelling and Data Quality
- What precautions should be taken for a good EIS measurement?
- How is impedance data displayed: Nyquist, Bode, Black and admittance plots?
- Is my system linear? How does the excitation amplitude distort the EIS result?
- What is an equivalent circuit, and how is it built and fitted with Z Fit?
- How do Kramers-Kronig transforms test the consistency of my EIS data?
- How is EIS corrected when the system drifts during the measurement?
- How are potential-dependent EIS (SPEIS) and automatic sequential Z Fit performed?
- What is multisine EIS, and when is it advantageous over single-sine measurement?
- What is pseudocapacitance (CPE), and how is it converted to a true capacitance?
- How are EC-Lab® parameters set for EIS on a Li-ion cell?
- When is the modified inductance element La needed?
- How is the transmission-line model for porous electrodes fitted in Z Fit?
- Which artefacts do reference-electrode impedance and instrument parasitics create in EIS?
- How are several impedance diagrams fitted simultaneously with Z Fit?
- Potentio-EIS or galvano-EIS? Which one should be chosen in which case?
- EIS mathematics 1: Complex numbers and impedance diagrams
- EIS mathematics 2: Transfer function via the Laplace transform
- How is the instrument's EIS accuracy contour plot read?
- Why is EIS misinterpreted on time-varying systems?
- What is the distribution of relaxation times (DRT), and when is it used?
- What do the EIS quality indicators THD, NSD and NSR tell us?
- Which parameters affect the THD value, and how does it compare with other linearity tests?
- How is a non-stationary EIS measurement detected and corrected? (Corrosion example)
- How is a non-stationary EIS measurement corrected? (Battery cell example)
- White paper: Systems and EIS quality indicators
- White paper: Studying batteries with EIS
Battery Testing and Analysis
- How are intercalation electrodes studied with GITT and GCPL?
- How are intercalation electrodes studied with PITT and PCGA?
- How is a satellite (LEO) battery protocol programmed with GCPL-4?
- How is the impedance of the elements of an operating cell stack measured simultaneously?
- How are EC-Lab® and BT-Lab® graphs customised?
- Dynamic resistance of a battery: how are AC (EIS) and DC (current interrupt) measurements related?
- How are degradation mechanisms tracked with dQ/dV (differential capacity) analysis?
- How is electrode swelling/shrinkage (dilatometry) measured during cycling?
- How are precision and accuracy ensured in Coulombic-efficiency measurement (HPC)?
- What is differential coulometry spectroscopy (DCS)?
- How is 3-electrode battery cycling with a reference electrode done in a PAT-Cell?
- How is the behaviour of each element in a battery module/pack monitored?
- How is low-frequency impedance (diffusion) in batteries interpreted?
- How is the ohmic (internal) resistance of a battery measured with EIS?
- How is a LiFePO4 electrode studied in situ with QCM?
- How is the diffusion coefficient of the intercalated species determined with EIS, PITT and GITT?
Supercapacitors
- How are the constant-power technique and a Ragone plot obtained?
- How is supercapacitor charge/discharge cycling (DC) done and how is capacitance calculated?
- How is the time constant of a supercapacitor determined with EIS?
- How is a supercapacitor characterised by galvanostatic polarisation?
Corrosion and Coatings
- How is the corrosion current measured with the Tafel and LPR (Rp) methods?
- How is rebar corrosion in reinforced concrete monitored electrochemically?
- How is pitting corrosion evaluated on multiple samples?
- How are Rp and the Tafel coefficients determined with the VASP technique?
- How is Rp determined with the CASP technique?
- Electrochemical noise measurement 1: How is instrument noise validated according to ASTM?
- Electrochemical noise measurement 2: ASTM evaluation on a real system
- Electrochemical noise measurement 3: How is the noise resistance Rn calculated?
- How is the corrosion current determined under mass-transfer-limited corrosion?
- How much does ohmic drop mislead corrosion-current determination?
Ohmic Drop and Potentiostat Fundamentals
- Potentiostat stability: why does oscillation occur, how is the bandwidth chosen?
- Ohmic drop 1: How does IR drop affect measurements?
- Ohmic drop 2: Which techniques measure IR drop?
- Ohmic drop 3: How are ZIR techniques used correctly?
Fuel Cells, Electrolysers and Flow Batteries
- How is the electrochemically active surface area (ECSA) of a platinum catalyst calculated?
- Fuel cell testing 1: How is the polarisation (I/E) curve recorded and interpreted?
- Fuel cell testing 2: How is characterisation done with EIS?
- How are high-current DC and EIS measurements done on a PEM electrolyser?
- How is a vanadium redox flow battery (VRFB) characterised in DC and AC?
Photovoltaics and Photoelectrochemistry
- How are polarisation and Mott-Schottky measurements done on a photovoltaic cell?
- How is a photovoltaic cell studied with IMVS?
- How is the capacitance-voltage (C-V) curve used in photovoltaic characterisation?
Analytical Electrochemistry, Kinetics and Sensors
- How is a rotating ring-disk electrode (RRDE) experiment done with a bipotentiostat?
- How is electrochemistry coupled with UV-Vis spectroscopy (spectroelectrochemistry)?
- How is mass measured during film deposition with QCM coupling?
- How is the double-layer capacitance measured?
- CV Sim 1: How does the scan rate affect the voltammogram of a simple redox reaction?
- CV Sim 2: How do ohmic drop and double-layer capacitance distort the voltammogram?
- How is UV-Vis, NIR and IR spectroelectrochemistry done with the UFS-SEC cell?
- How is reaction kinetics measured with Levich and Koutecký-Levich analyses?
- EIS on an RDE 1: How is the diffusion coefficient determined with the new Winf element?
- How are pulsed techniques (SWV, DPV, NPV) used in sensors and electroanalysis?
Materials Science and Conductivity
- How is a ceramic characterised electrically with the MTZ-35 and HTSH-1100?
- Principles of conductivity measurement: 2/4-terminal, geometry and temperature
- How is electronic conductivity measured and compared with DC and AC methods?
Scanning Probe Systems (SECM, SKP, SVET, LEIS)
- How is height tracking done with the SKP370/SKP470 module?
- SECM height correction with OSP: corrosion application
- SECM height correction with OSP: sensor application
- How is area-scan data post-processed and optimised?
- How is image analysis done with the MIRA software?
- Advantages of intermittent-contact (ic) SECM: two corrosion examples
- How are battery electrode materials studied in non-aqueous electrolyte with ac-SECM?
- Graphing and analysis tools in the M370/M470 software
- How is a corroded Zn-coated Fe sample imaged with SKP?
- dc- and ac-SECM measurements on Si nanowire arrays
- How is a nanopatterned gold sample measured with ic-/ac-SECM?
- How is a 3D map produced with 3DIsoPlot?
- How is an interdigitated array electrode studied with ic-SECM?
- Introduction to the modular map experiment: interdigitated electrode example
- How is the effect of light on a living leaf measured with the USB-PIO?
- ic-SECM for large topographic features
- Measurement of mechanically exfoliated graphite with height-tracking SECM
- Micron-scale measurements with the SECM150
- How is ferricyanide diffusion through porous membranes studied with SECM?
- Introduction to the Foil Cell: how are foil electrodes measured?
- How is an NMC battery electrode measured with the SECM150?
- Vibrating-probe measurements on plants with the SVP470
- How are bipolar plates studied with ic-SECM?
- Sweep-scan mode in SKP experiments
- How is the SDS reservoir head used?
- Height-tracking sweep scan
Photosynthesis and Life Sciences (JTS Spectrometers)
- Why is green light used to monitor fluorescence changes?
- How are cyclic and linear electron flow in plants revealed with the JTS-10?
- Cyclic electron flow in C3 plants
- How is the 520 nm electrochromic band shift measured with 546 nm scattering correction?
- How is non-photochemical quenching (NPQ) measured with the JTS-150?
Source: Bio-Logic Learning Center application notes (in English; copyright Bio-Logic SAS). The summaries were prepared by Entek Elektronik; each entry gives a copy of the PDF downloadable from the Entek server and a link to the original note. Technical data should be checked against the manufacturer documents.
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