Materials characterization
Electrochemical Methods
Investigation of electrochemical properties
Electrochemical methods can be used to investigate specific properties of materials, such as their corrosion behavior, their electrocatalytic properties or the energy states in molecular systems. By having access to all common electrochemical methods, we can offer you our services for the investigation of a wide variety of sample systems. High-performance potentiostats at our disposal cover a wide range of currents and thus can be applied for a broad spectrum of methods. Our expertise in the field of electrochemical analysis enables us to provide you with a capable support in finding answers to the specific questions you have about your material.
- Electrochemical Impedance spectroscopy
Wide variety of methods
Our spectrum of electrochemical methods ranges from cyclic voltammetry through pulsed methods such as differential pulse voltammetry to electrochemical impedance spectroscopy. With these methods at hand, we can provide services ranging from the electrochemical characterization of colorants, polymers, and catalysts, to the answering of complex questions involving industrial electrolysis and electrocatalytic processes.
The range of methods available to us for investigating your sample systems includes:
- Cyclic voltammetry (CV)
- Differential pulse voltammetry (DPV)
- Linear sweep voltammetry (LSV)
- Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS)
- Chronoamperometry (CA)
- Chronocoulometry (CC)
- Voltammetry with rotating disk electrodes
If required, we can also offer you additional specific methods to address your problems in a more targeted manner.
Interdisciplinary expertise
A major strength of our team stems from the combination of our scientific expertise in the area of electrochemical investigations and the long-term experience that we have gleaned in the fields of materials, corrosion, and catalysis. Already in the performance and interpretation of independent electrochemical measurements, the practical knowledge of our experts can represent a significant added value for you.
- Electrochemistry of a bi-nuclear metal complex
Molecular electrochemistry
Knowing the energy states of molecules, metal complexes, and conductive polymers is a key prerequisite for working with functional molecular systems such as polymer-based solar cells, organic lightemitting diodes, photoinitiators, or even catalytic systems.
Voltammetry is a powerful and easy-to-use method for obtaining information about the energy states of molecular systems. We offer both cyclic and pulsed voltammetry – methods with which our team has many years of user experience, enabling them to interpret data in a way that is directly relevant to your functional system.
- Electrolysis in industrial plants
Catalysts for electrolysis
The development of new catalysts for electrolytic processes is a timeconsuming process in which the greatest challenge is the scale-up of the intentionally simple electrochemical lab experiment to production scale.
With our expertise, we can help you to identify suitable new materials still in early stages of development, thus avoiding time-consuming and expensive experiments in model or pilot plants. In combination with compact electrolysis cells, voltammetry with rotating disk electrodes enables us to investigate your catalytic materials for promising candidates in a cost-efficient manner.
We can provide you with new perspectives in the development of catalytic materials through a combination of electrochemical investigations and a broad spectrum of material characterization methods, such as porosimetry, thermogravimetry, and microscopy. As a result, you gain comprehensive insights into the physical and structural properties of your material.
- Sensor for corrosion monitoring
Corrosion
Because of their sensitivity, electrochemical measurements are ideally suited to the qualitative and quantitative characterization of corrosion. Relevant parameters for a corrosion monitoring of chemical production plants are the corrosive surface attack, which is used to estimate service life and define inspection cycles, as well as the occurrence of localized corrosion, which can lead to significant damage on short time scales. The electrochemical techniques available to us for these applications are linear polarization resistance (LPR) monitoring, electrochemical noise (EN), and non-linear analytical techniques (HAD, EFM).
Non-metallic anti-corrosion coatings are used in shipbuilding and piping engineering to protect metallic materials. Sometimes damage to these protective coatings cannot be avoided, however. Corrosion at these damaged locations results in the production of hydrogen, which causes the coating in the immediate area to debond. This allows a corrosive medium in the environment to get between the protective coating and the metal substrate, which neutralizes the protective effect and allows the extent of the damage to grow. The electrochemical cathodic debonding test can be used to simulate this behavior exhibited by organic anti-corrosion coatings so that the quality of the coatings can be assessed.
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