title: Faradic resistance of the electrode/electrolyte interface.
abstract: A new method is used to measure the direct-current (Faradic) resistance of a single electrode/electrolyte interface. The method employs a constant-current pulse and a potential-sensing electrode. By choosing a sufficiently long pulse duration, the voltage between the test and potential-sensing electrode exhibits a three-phase response. In the steady-state phase, the voltage measured is equal to the current flowing through the electrode Faradic resistance and the resistance of the electrolyte between the test and potential-sensing electrode. By measuring this latter resistance with a high-frequency sinusoidal alternating current, the voltage drop in the electrolyte is calculated and subtracted from the voltage measured between the test and potential-sensing electrode, thereby allowing calculation of the Faradic resistance. By plotting the reciprocal of the Faradic resistance against current density and fitting the data points to a third-order polynomial, it is possible to determine the zero-current density (Faradic) resistance. This technique was used to determine the Faradic resistance of electrodes (0.1 cm2) of stainless-steel, platinum, platinum-iridium and rhodium in 0.9 per cent NaCl at 25 degrees. The zero current Faradic resistance is lowest for platinum (30.3 k omega), slightly higher for platinum-iridium (47.6k omega), much higher for rhodium (111k omega) and highest for type 316 stainless-steel (345k omega). In all cases, the Faradic resistance decreases dramatically with increasing current density.
authors.affiliation: Hillenbrand Biomedical Engineering Center, Purdue University, A.A. Potter Engineering Centre, W. Lafayette, IN 47907-1293.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Mayer
authors.forename: L A
authors.initials: LA
authors.lastname: Geddes
authors.forename: J D
authors.initials: JD
authors.lastname: Bourland
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Ogborn
mesh_terms: D017097:Electric Impedance; D004566:Electrodes; D006801:Humans; D008962:Models, Theoretical