The design of potentiostats for use at very short times

Abstract

The analysis of the transient response of potentiostat control circuits discussed previously is extended further. It is shown that the time constant of the damped oscillatory response cannot be reduced below about 10−6s with present techniques. New methods using hybrid open-loop, closed-loop techniques are described which eliminate the usual damped oscillation and enable response times of 10−7s to be achieved. The effect of iR drop on the response of the feedback system is analysed.It is shown that an analogue computer is particularly useful for demonstrating the response of potentiostats and for optimizing their design parameters.