AFCBP1 Bipotentiostat System User Guide

The AFCBP1 bipotentiostat is a “classic” analog bipotentiostat available from Pine Research.  This article covers general information about the AFCBP1, while the complete manual can be downloaded at the link above.  The instrument is “classic” in the sense that it is one of the last potentiostats on the market which still had a full suite of front panel controls and I/O connections that allow it to be used as a stand-alone instrument without the aid of computer-controlled software.  The AFCBP1 was retired in 2015; however, the instrument is capable of being controlled by a computer using one of two software packages written by Pine Research.  For maximum flexibility using the AFCBP1, we recommend use of our powerful AfterMath^TM Data Organizer software package. AfterMath Downloads This software package allows the AFCBP1 to perform a wide range of electroanalytical techniques and provides you with an easy way to manage and analyze your experimental data.  In addition to our newer AfterMath software, Pine Research still makes our older, retired PineChem software package PineChem Electrochemical Software available for download for those customers who wish to make use of the true analog sweep generator built into the AFCBP1 bipotentiostat.

 

The CBP bipotentiostat system offers you a choice between front panel control of the instrument or software control using our powerful AfterMath software package.

 

Software Control.  Most customers prefer to use our AfterMath Data Organizer software to set up experiments, analyze results, and keep their data organized.  AfterMath fully supports both single and dual working electrode methods.  This allows you to use the bipotentiostat with many multi-electrode systems, such as rotating ring-disk electrodes, interdigitated array electrodes, sandwich electrodes, paired band electrodes, and twin-electrode thin layer cells.  Of course, the bipotentiostat can also perform traditional single working electrode techniques such as cyclic voltammetry, chronoamperometry, differential pulse voltammetry, square wave voltammetry, and many others.

 

Front Panel Control.  If desired, the CBP bipotentiostat can be operated as a fully-functional, standalone analog bipotentiostat.  Intuitive front panel controls permit separate and independent control of the potential of two working electrodes in the same electrochemical cell.  One of the advantages of using front panel control is that it lets you use the built-in analog sweep generator to provide a true analog potential sweep to the electrodes (as opposed to the digital staircase approximation of a sweep that is used while under software control).  Particular attention has been given to the design of the sweep generator and its front panel controls to give you flexible control of the sweep at any point during a particular cycle and direct control of the sweep rate and sweep limits.  The sweep may span any range within the +10 volt to -10 volt range, and sweep rates from 1 mV/sec to 1.00 V/sec are available from the front panel.  Sweep limits may span a range as small as 10 mV up to a full 20 V apart.  The two limits may be set both positive, both negative, or one positive and one negative.  You may halt or zero the output of the sweep or change the direction of the sweep “on-the-fly” using simple front panel controls.

 

Output Signals.  The potential and current of each working electrode is presented on the front panel for easy connection to a third-party recording device in those cases where you do not want to record the signals under software control.  Seven decades of current conversion settings are provided.  These range from 100 nA/V up to 100 mA/V.  A front panel voltmeter gives you instant feedback regarding all of the important front panel signal levels.  In the event that an overload condition occurs during your experiment, an indicator will alert you to a possible error condition, but the bipotentiostat’s feedback circuitry will continue to function.

In general, the personal computer used with the CBP bipotentiostat system must be a desktop or tower system (not a laptop).  There must be one full size PCI slot available to accommodate the interface board.  The operating system must be one of the versions of Microsoft Windows listed below.