Normal Pulse Voltammetry (NPV)

Normal pulse voltammetry (NPV) eliminates the influence of diffusion limitations on the current-voltage curve, effectively removing Cottrell behavior from the measurements. The technique performs a potential scan using linearly increasing potential pulses, where the first pulse has a magnitude of E_step and each subsequent pulse (n) increases to n × E_step.

The measurement continues until the pulse potential exceeds the defined end potential E_end. Integration times for both pulse and step currents can be optimized later during data analysis.

NPV typically provides higher sensitivity than linear sweep voltammetry (LSV) due to the thinner diffusion layer, which results in enhanced Faradaic currents.

Parameter Description

Parameter	Name	Description	Unit
E start	start potential	starting DC potential can be set in absolute potential or relative to OCV	V
E step	step potential	potential of each step for the rising pulse function	V
E end	end potential	maximum DC potential of the last pulse can be set in absolute potential or relative to OCV	V
t settle	settle time	settling time at E start before the first NPV pulse is stimulated	s
t step	step duration	duration of each step of the NPV step duration should be at least twice as long as pulse duration	s
t pulse	pulse duration	duration of each pulse	s
I range	current range	expected maximum absolute current value for fixed current range selection (autoranging is disabled)	A
ODR	output data rate	number of measurement points per second note: the current is always measured at the maximum possible speed and integrated for the selected data rate	\(\frac{1}{s}\)
I min	minimum current	minimum current limit for premature determination	A
I max	maximum current	maximum current limit for premature determination	A

A Start Phase Potentiostatic can be enabled or disabled before the method is executed.

Measurement Result

The measurement records both voltage and current as functions of time, capturing the complete electrochemical response. Post-measurement analysis allows for fine-tuning of integration times for step currents, enabling optimization of signal-to-noise ratios and analytical precision.

Custom Experiment Builder

This experiment is a combination of the following blocks:

• Open Circuit Measurement

• Ramp - Current Voltage Curve

• NPV - Normal Pulse Voltammetry