Question

Difference between potentiostatic and galvanostatic

Answer 1

A good example for understanding that difference is the phenomenon of passivation on the surface of the working electrode. If you study passivation using potenciostatic you will find that the current response value changes quite fast, it will saturate during formation and then it will jump up during breaking-down of the film. While if you study it using galvanostatic you will not find any fast change in the value of the potential upon applying a current swept. It will be a stable curve. That is because during galvanostatic test you are controlling the current, and the passivation process will not induce any saturation or jumping on the value of the potential, only on the current.