ElyFlow Starterkit

ElyFlow is the most flexible electrochemical test cell. Of course, we have implemented the same ideas regarding an internal Haber-Luggin capillary within the cell and an internal heating device as in FlexCell.
The main difference is that you can direct an electrolyte flow through the cell ElyFlow. You can also combine multiple compartments to build up a cell with a single flow or two flows for anolyte and catholyte. Even a set up with three or more compartments is manageable.

If your electrochemical reaction yields to products which change the electrolyte, you must set up an electrolyte flow and pump the products out of the cell. These can be gases or liquid products, such as in CO2 reduction, for example. In this case you need to use ElyFlow.
If the reaction involves more than just water splitting, the anode and cathode should be separated. This is achieved by using two electrolyte compartments from ElyFlow – separated by a membrane or separator. The standard separator is a Nafion membrane N424.

The Mini-HydroFlex reference electrode is designed for our test cells FlexCell and ElyFlow. It also offers additional advantages such as adjustable length and a relatively small diameter.
However, please keep in mind that you will need an additional test lead.

Please note that our HydroFlex is not compatible with the test cell ElyFlow! You have to use the Mini-HydroFlex instead.

Usually, you should place the reference electrode in front of the working electrode. However, you can also measure the voltage drop across the membrane or measure the potential at four different positions simultaneously.

This is determined by the current density and the external volume of your electrolyte storage. Several days to weeks are possible.

The counter electrode is in direct contact to a 24 V heating element. This heats the electrolyte near the counter electrode.
If you have a divided cell with a membrane or separator separating the counter electrolyte and the working electrolyte, an external heated beaker should be used to also adjust the temperature of the working electrolyte.

When running a complete electrochemical cell, you have usually two different electrolyte flows – the anolyte and the catholyte. These cells usually operate in galvanostat controlled mode for longer periods to measure not only electrochemical values but also product concentrations or long-time stability. So far, you had to assemble these set ups yourself or they were very expensive. With ElyControl, this is done in a much smarter way for laboratory applications.

The ElyControl box is made for running the electrolyte compartments of ElyFlow (anolyte and catholyte) in terms of temperature and flow.

Yes. Electrochemical reactions are temperature-dependent. But not only the open-circuit potential is influenced by temperature. Electrolyte conductivity and ion mobility are also temperature-dependent. Last but not least, the pH value is temperature sensitive.

No. You can fill the ElyFlow cell with a pipette and run the electrochemical tests at room temperature. Because of the 20 ml electrolyte volume in the cell, your test duration is limited.

When using the ElyFlow test cell with two electrolyte compartments, both the catholyte and anolyte temperatures must be controlled separately. ElyControl has two PID temperature units.
Furthermore, you should circulate the electrolytes through the cell. The ElyControl comes with two pump units – two membrane pumps or two impeller pumps.
Last but not least, we have integrated a galvanostat with 5 Ampere, 15 Ampere, or 24 Ampere, depending on your needs. The FEP isolated Pt100 probes are also included in the ElyControl package.

Two independent temperature regulators with two temperature Pt100 probes control the temperature of anolyte and catholyte separately. The anolyte and catholyte flow is adjusted by two 0-24 Volt regulators. Furthermore, we have implemented a galvanostat with 0 to 5000 mA (±1 mA) or 0 to 15 000 mA (±10 mA). 

You can run the ElyControl unit manually or with our freeware program GCB. We will assist you with the installation of the software. It is a database-driven program storing the data in the LocalDB from Windows. Data can be exported to Excel format. You can also add a single Voltmeter or our ElyAnalysis box with 8 channels for various signals such as Anode Potential, Cathode Potential, Cell Voltage, Pressure, gas flow, etc. to the software.