Development of a coulometry system at the Korea Research Institute of Standards and Science and evaluation of the measurement uncertainty originating from the system

Abstract

Coulometry is used to realize the definition of the mole and enables the direct determination of the purity of high-purity substances that are used as standards for other relative measurements with very small measurement uncertainty. However, despite several studies reporting the development of accurate and precise coulometry systems, there is a lack of detailed description of the system and systematic evaluation of the measurement uncertainty arising from the system. In this study, coulometry systems constructed at the Korea Research Institute of Standards and Science (KRISS) are described in detail and the uncertainties associated with these systems are systematically evaluated using a bottom-up approach. The relative expanded uncertainty resulting from the measurement system for the amount-of-substance content of acid in high-purity potassium hydrogen phthalate is approximately 0.0005%. The performance of the KRISS coulometry systems has been verified through several international comparisons and comparative measurements using certified reference materials.