Quality Control of Textile Electrodes by Electrochemical Impedance Spectroscopy

Abstract

In this paper an electrochemical cell is developed to test and follow-up the quality of electrodes made of knitted, woven and non-woven conductive textile material. This cell is constructed of two electrodes planarly positioned against each other using a series of PVC plates. The obtained impedance, as a result of applied alternating potential and measured current signal, is equal to the resistance of the system electrode–electrolyte in the frequency region where no shift is observed in phase angle between applied potential and measured current. This resistance provides information about the properties and performance of the electrodes and a change of this resistance during the lifetime of the electrodes is an interesting parameter for quality control of the used electrodes. After characterization of the cell a range of textile electrodes (woven, non-woven and knitted) were investigated and compared. Results showed that the textile electrodes behave initially similar, obeying an equation that shows that the resistance is proportional to d, c–1and A–2/3, dbeing the distance between the electrodes, cthe electrolyte concentration and Athe electrode surface. However, after longer exposure some indication of corrosion and malfunction was detected.