Automated Impedance Measurements in Electrochemical Cells
Abstract In this paper a system is described for impedance measurements in electrochemical cells, integrated by a fast potentiostat, signal generator, digital transient recorder and a computer interface. The treatment of the signal is made by obtaining the correlation between the response cell signal with the in-phase and in-quadrature signals, as is made in the frequency response analysis systems, but the quadrature component being numerically generated. This allows one to obtain the d.c. first and second harmonic cell responses in a single experiment, as well as the a.c. phase selective response by programming the reference signal phase angle. The results obtained with a dummy cell showed the validity of the procedure since the deviation of the measured results from the theoretical data is low. The C/E curve of the interface 1 M KCI/Hg at 25°C is concordant with that previously reported in the literature. Moreover, the system has been tested with the reduction of Cd(II) ion.
An automatic system for the measurement of dropping mercury electrode impedances
A fully automated setup for impedance measurements at the dropping mercury electrode (DME) is described. It is based on the Solartron 1250 frequency response analyzer, and it incorporates an infrared drop-fall detector. Synchronization with the DME as well as calibration procedures are considered in some detail. Experiments on dummy and electrolytic cells, with and without electroactive species, were performed, and data are compared with earlier results on the same systems.
Joint strength of aluminum ultrasonic soldered under liquidus temperature of Sn–Zn hypereutectic solder
Abstract In order to obtain high-strength aluminum joints, ultrasonic soldering of 1070 aluminum was conducted under liquidus temperature of Sn–Zn hypereutectic solder. A device for ultrasonic soldering was assembled, which propagated ultrasonic vibrations in a direction perpendicular to joining surfaces. This device joined 1070-Al using quasi-melting Sn–Zn hypereutectic solder without using any artificial spacers. The strength of the solder joints was evaluated by tensile tests. The optimum joining conditions were determined, and the effects of solder compositions and soldering temperature on the joint strength and the solder layer thickness were examined. In this ultrasonic soldering process, the highest tensile strength was obtained for the solder joints fabricated at 220 °C for the Sn–23Zn and Sn–40Zn solder compositions. The joint strength was equivalent to that of 1070-Al heat treated at 220 °C. The sound joints were obtained at 300 °C using Sn–82Zn solder, the liquid phase volume fraction of which was theoretically only 0.24. The present work also revealed that the thickness of retained solder layer in the joint after ultrasonic soldering could be estimated. Accordingly, ultrasonic soldering under the liquidus temperature of Sn–Zn hypereutectic solder could be a spacer-free soldering method to obtain high-strength aluminum joints.