Galvanostatic Purpose

The Galvanostatic technique does not have a single purpose; rather, it is used for general-purpose measurements. For example, you can use Galvanostatic experiments to study the formation or breakdown of passive films or just to electrochemically pretreat a sample.

The Galvanostatic experiment in the DC Corrosion software consists of a series of potential measurements made on a metal sample passing a constant current. In the software, it can also include one step in the applied current.

The graphical output of the experiment is a plot of potential versus time. Analysis of the curve can yield the following types of information:

  • Rate of film formation
  • Mechanistic information