Impedance Spectroscopy

This book covers new advances in the field of impedance spectroscopy including fundamentals, methods and applications. It releases selected extended and peer reviewed scientific contributions from the International Workshop on Impedance Spectroscopy (IWIS 2017) focussing on detailed information about recent scientific research results in electrochemistry and battery research, bioimpedance measurement, sensors, system design, signal processing

Elektroniikan pääteaste nopeisiin biologisiin in vitro mittauksiin.

Epithelium forms tight membranes that efficiently take part in secretion and absorption between the two lining tissues. A tight membrane of this nature has a low DC conductivity and this is generally used to assess the integrity of cultured epithelium cell layers. Recent studies have shown that impedance spectroscopy gives more information about the electrophysiological structure of the cells. Collaborative research by Department of Biomedical Engineering at Tampere University of Technology and stem cell research group at University of Tampere has shown that electrochemical impedance spectroscopy is useful in assessing the maturity and functionality of differentiated retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) cells. However the time expenditure of the traditional frequency sweeping method is a poor candidate for drug permeability or multichannel studies where several frequency responses have to be measured within a short time. The aim of this Thesis was to develop the front end electronics for fast impedance spectroscopy measurement employing inverse-repeat binary sequence as the broadband excitation signal. Also the DC potential across the cell membrane was to be measured with the device. The developed device was first tested using a custom built test box and plastic film as artificial membrane. In addition several electrode materials were used to study the observed polarization impedances. Further testing with differentiated RPE cell layers was done using the Ussing chamber and the well plate setups that are commonly used in cell culturing studies. All the measured frequency responses were referenced with a commercial device widely used in epithelium research. The observed measurement differences between the device and the reference were largely caused by the load dependent output current of the device and by the electrode polarization taking place at the voltage measurement electrodes. Due to the input current error the relative difference of the measured impedance levels was typically from 5 % to 10 % with load impedances larger than 700 ohms. With lower load impedances the measured relative difference increased rapidly. A method to compensate for the input current error is presented in this thesis. DC potential measurements with the device were not successful as the electrodes used had very high offset voltages. The frequency responses measured with the device give a good measure of the capacitance present in the cell layer. Capacitance of the cell layer can be used to assess the maturity of the cell layer and for such purpose the device suits well. For impedance level measurements the device has a relatively large error margin and further research needs to be done to improve the accuracy and to eliminate the DC current flow. In addition the accuracy of the measurement system would improve by dividing the input stage between the DC potential and frequency response measurements. Also more carefully designed electrodes would help to control the electrode offset voltages.Epiteelisolut muodostavat tiivisliitoksia, jotka ovat tärkeässä roolissa kudosten välillä tapahtuvassa erityksessä sekä absorptiossa. Tiivisliitoksen tasavirtajohtavuus on heikko ja tätä ominaisuutta hyödynnetään yleisesti viljeltyjen epiteelisolukerrosten tiiviyden sähköisessä tarkastelussa. Tutkimukset ovat kuitenkin osoittaneet, että impedanssispektroskopia antaa enemmän tietoa solujen elektrofysiologisesta rakenteesta kuin yksinkertainen resistanssimittaus. Tampereen Teknillisen Yliopiston Biolääketieteen laitos sekä Tampereen Yliopiston kantasolututkimusryhmä ovat yhteistyössä osoittaneet elektrokemiallisen impedanssispektroskopian soveltuvan kantasoluista erikoistettujen retinan pigmenttiepiteelisolujen (RPE) kypsyyden ja toiminnallisuuden arviointiin. Perinteiset taajuuspyyhkäisyä hyödyntävät taajuusvasteanalysaattorit soveltuvat kuitenkin hitaudeltaan heikosti tutkimuksiin, joissa mittauskohteessa tapahtuu nopeita muutoksia tai missä useita taajuusvasteita mitataan lyhyellä aikavälillä. Tämän diplomityön tavoitteena oli kehittää pääteasteen elektroniikka mittausjärjestelmälle, joka hyödyntää laajakaistaista binäärijaksoa herätesignaalina ja mahdollistaa näin huomattavasti nopeamman impedanssispektroskopian. Kehitettävän laitteen tuli myös mitata solukerroksen yli oleva DC potentiaali. Diplomityössä kehitettyä laitetta testattiin aluksi in vitro mittauksia varten kehitetyllä testijärjestelmällä, jossa solukerrosta jäljiteltiin ohuella muovikalvolla. Näissä mittauksissa testattiin myös eri elektrodimateriaalien vaikutus havaittuun polarisaatioimpedanssiin. Viljeltyjen RPE solujen taajuusvasteita mitattiin työssä käyttäen sekä Ussingin kammio- että kuoppalevymittausasetelmia. Laitteella mitattujen taajuusvasteiden hyvyyttä arvioitiin vertaamalla tuloksia kaupallisella taajuusvasteanalysaattorilla mitattuihin vasteisiin. Kehitetyllä laitteella mitattujen vasteiden ero analysaattorilla mitattuihin johtui suurilta osin herätevirran riippuvuudesta kuormasta sekä jännitemittauselektrodien polarisaatioimpedansseista. Yli 700 ohmin kuormilla herätevirrasta aiheutuva virhe oli tyypillisesti 5% – 10 %, kun taas matalimmilla kuormilla virhe kasvoi nopeasti. Tämän virheen kompensoimiseksi on kuitenkin esitetty metodi tässä diplomityössä. Epiteelisolukerroksen yli olevaa DC jännitettä ei onnistuttu mittaamaan johtuen käytettyjen elektrodien korkeista offset-jännitteistä. Tässä diplomityössä kehitetyllä laitteella mitatut taajuusvasteet noudattavat hyvin analysaattorilla mitattujen vasteiden käyrämuotoja ja laite soveltuu täten solukerroksen kapasitanssin arviointiin. Solukerroksen kapasitanssia voidaan käyttää apuna solujen kypsyyden arvioinnissa. Laitteella mitatut impedanssitasot eroavat kuitenkin analysaattorilla mitatuista ja jatkokehitys DC virtojen eliminoimiseksi sekä elektrodien erisuuruisten offset-jännitteiden kompensoimiseksi on suositeltavaa

Impedance spectroscopy techniques for condition monitoring of polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells

Energy continues to remain the spine of all human development. As we continue to make advances in various levels, the need for energy in quantity, and even more recently, quality, continues to increase. The fuel cell presents itself as a promising prospect to solve one of mankind’s current challenge - clean energy. The fuel cell is essentially an electrochemical conversion system which takes in fuel supply to produce electricity. Some key features make the fuel cell attractive as a power source. Firstly, its efficiency in practical applications is approximately 50% compared to the typical efficiency of 40% for a typical internal combustion engine [1]. Secondly, unlike the systems such as the internal combustion engine that typically releases carbon-monoxide which is a major greenhouse gas, the typical fuel cell system, produces just water and heat, alongside the useful electrical energy. These characteristics make it attractive as a clean energy supply capable of replacing the fossil-based supplies that are currently the mainstay. Unfortunately, the fuel cell is far cry from an ideal system. Despite significant advantages of the fuel cell as a power supply, various challenges still exist which have hindered its widespread acceptance and deployment. The fuel cell at its core is a highly multi-physics system and its operational intricacies makes it highly prone to a series of fault conditions. This begs the question of durability - an important requirement of a viable power source. Another challenge is the fact that humanity currently struggles with an efficient method of producing hydrogen which is the fuel of choice for the fuel cell. Given the promises of the fuel cell however, research efforts continue to increase to further improve its viability as an energy source competitive enough to meet mankind’s need of clean energy. This work presents results bordering on efficient diagnostic approaches for the fuel cell, aimed at improving the durability of the fuel cell. Particularly, two techniques targeted at improving the popular Electrochemical Impedance Spectroscopy (EIS) are presented. Conventional EIS takes significant amount of time, rendering it unsuitable for real-time diagnostics. Multi-frequency perturbation signals have been proposed to address this challenge. These however introduces concerns surrounding the accuracy of the resulting impedance measurement. Part of this work addresses some of the challenges with the fuel cell multi-sine impedance spectroscopy, such as measurement accuracy, by defining an optimized signal synthesis formulation. The proposed approach is validated in simulation and compared to the popular exponential frequency distribution approach using the appropriately defined error metric. Secondly, the chirp – as a frequency rich signal, is investigated as an alternative perturbation signal. Consequently, the use of the wavelet transform as an analysis tool of choice is presented. The characteristic nature of the chirp signal makes a broadband frequency sweep over time possible, hence enabling a faster impedance estimation. The resulting decomposition is harnessed for impedance calculation. The approach is tested in simulation and results for equivalent circuits are presented. It is shown that the resulting impedance spectrum well approximates the theoretical values. To further validate both techniques in practice, a low-cost active load is designed and built. The active load enables the injection of an arbitrary signal using the load modulation technique. The device is tested and benchmarked against commercial frequency response analyzer (FRA) using the conventional single sine EIS technique. Both approaches developed – the improved multi-sine scheme and the chirp signal perturbation are demonstrated with the aid of the active load on a single cell fuel cell station. Outcomes of the experiment show significant accuracy from the two techniques in comparison with results obtained from the FRA equipment which implements the single sine technique. In addition, the two schemes enabled impedance results to be taken in a few seconds, compared to conventional single sine EIS which takes several minutes. Impedance measurements are also carried out in the presence of two prominent faulty conditions – flooding and drying, using the developed techniques. This demonstrates the capability of the proposed system to perform real-time diagnostics of the PEMFC using impedance information

Electrical Impedance Tomography/Spectroscopy (EITS): a Code Division Multiplexed (CDM) approach

Electrical Impedance Tomography and Spectroscopy (EITS) is a noninvasive imaging technique that creates images of cross-sections "tomos" of objects by discriminating them based on their electrical impedance. This thesis investigated and successfully confirmed the use of Code Division Multiplexing (CDM) using Gold codes in Electrical Impedance Tomography and Spectroscopy. The results obtained showed 3.5% and 6.2% errors in determining the position and size of imaged anomalies respectively, with attainable imaging speed of 462 frames/second. These results are better, compared to those reported when using Time Division Multiplexing (TDM) and Frequency Division Multiplexing (FDM).This new approach provides a more robust mode of EITS for fast changing dynamic systems by eliminating temporal data inconsistencies. Furthermore, it enables robust use of frequency difference imaging and spectroscopy in EITS by eliminating frequency data inconsistencies. In this method of imaging, electric current patterns are safely injected into the imaged object by a set of electrodes arranged in a single plane on the objects surface, for 2-Dimensional (2D) imaging. For 3-Dimensional (3D) imaging, more electrode planes are used on the objects surface. The injected currents result in measurable voltages on the objects surface. Such voltages are measured, and together with the input currents, and a Finite Element Model (FEM) of the object, used to reconstruct an impedance image of the cross-sectional contents of the imaged object. The reconstruction process involves the numerical solutions of the forward problem; using Finite Element solvers and the resulting ill-posed inverse problem using iterative Optimization or Computational Intelligence methods. This method has applications mainly in the Biomedical imaging and Process monitoring fields. The primary interests of the author are, in imaging and diagnosis of cancer, neonatal pneumonia and neurological disorders which are leading causes of death in Africa and world-wide

The 1st International Electronic Conference on Algorithms

This book presents 22 of the accepted presentations at the 1st International Electronic Conference on Algorithms which was held completely online from September 27 to October 10, 2021. It contains 16 proceeding papers as well as 6 extended abstracts. The works presented in the book cover a wide range of fields dealing with the development of algorithms. Many of contributions are related to machine learning, in particular deep learning. Another main focus among the contributions is on problems dealing with graphs and networks, e.g., in connection with evacuation planning problems

Battery Systems and Energy Storage beyond 2020

Currently, the transition from using the combustion engine to electrified vehicles is a matter of time and drives the demand for compact, high-energy-density rechargeable lithium ion batteries as well as for large stationary batteries to buffer solar and wind energy. The future challenges, e.g., the decarbonization of the CO2-intensive transportation sector, will push the need for such batteries even more. The cost of lithium ion batteries has become competitive in the last few years, and lithium ion batteries are expected to dominate the battery market in the next decade. However, despite remarkable progress, there is still a strong need for improvements in the performance of lithium ion batteries. Further improvements are not only expected in the field of electrochemistry but can also be readily achieved by improved manufacturing methods, diagnostic algorithms, lifetime prediction methods, the implementation of artificial intelligence, and digital twins. Therefore, this Special Issue addresses the progress in battery and energy storage development by covering areas that have been less focused on, such as digitalization, advanced cell production, modeling, and prediction aspects in concordance with progress in new materials and pack design solutions