EC-Lab – Application Note #23

2010

EIS measurements on Li-ion batteries

EC-Lab® software parameters adjustment
I – INTRODUCTION (2) “five-point” connection by separating each
To obtain significant EIS plots, without cable on each electrode, i.e. CA2 and Ref1 on
experiencing noise or other issues, the positive electrode and CA1, Ref2, and Ref3
experimental parameters should be chosen on the negative electrode:
carefully. Users should also pay attention to
the definition of each parameter and test the
effects of each one on the results.

Furthermore, all electrochemistry software is

designed differently, and users must adapt
parameters according to their own particular
software interface.
This connection is also recommended for ac-
The aim of this note is to help the user obtain curate potential measurements.
good experimental results with EC-Lab® As shown in Figure 1, we can notice a shift of
software. To this end, a detailed description of + 2.5 mΩ between the EIS diagram obtained
some key points (connections, cable length, with the banana plugs connected together (1)
experimental parameters etc.) is explained comparing with the banana plugs connected
below. separately (2).

II – EXPERIMENTAL PART
In the following application note, experiments
were carried out on a Li-ion battery with a
nominal capacity of 10 Ah. Experiments were
executed at the Eoc potential, i.e. 3.3 V.

Note that experiments were obtained with

EC-Lab® software in potentiostatic mode.

II - 1 CONNECTION
Two kinds of two electrodes connections can Figure 1: Comparison of EIS diagrams obtained with
be considered: two-point connection (green line and markers) and
(1) “two-point” connection with CA2+Ref1 five-point connection (red line and markers).
together on the positive electrode and
This example shows that for systems with a
CA1+Ref2+Ref3 together on the negative
small resistance, the connection is very
electrode:
important and can significantly influence
results. This is why it is necessary to minimize
the value of stray capacitance, stray
inductance or resistance [1] generated by the
connection. Each connection lead should be
separated and connected as close as possible
to the electrochemical system to reduce the
intrinsic influence of the connection.

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 EC-Lab – Application Note #23
2010

II - 2 CABLE LENGTH Va =
1
V pp = 2V RMS (1)
Lengthened cables are sometimes deemed 2
necessary for certain configurations. This parameter value has to be chosen
However, this should be avoided wherever considering the current amplitude III and the
possible, as extended cables can impact potential amplitude IEI values. III and IEI are
negatively on result quality. the amplitude applied around the DC level of
current or around the DC level of potential. It
We used a standard cable (red EIS curve) and is the AC amplitude. In EC-Lab® software, DC
a cable of 10 m length (blue EIS curve) for levels of current or of potential are called <I>
these experiments. Note, that to avoid and <E>. The Va value has to be determined in
oscillations of the potentiostat, resistors were such a way to ensure the system is linear in
added to the reference plugs on the 10 m order to obtain significant EIS results [2].
cable.

As shown in Figure 2, a slight difference can be

noticed between the EIS curves obtained with
the standard and long cables. Depending on
the studied system, EIS measurements with
long cables should be analyzed with caution.

Figure 2: Comparison of EIS curves obtained with a

standard cable (red curve and markers) and with a
10 m cable (blue curve and markers).

Figure 3: “Parameters Settings” window of PEIS

II - 3 EXPERIMENTAL PARAMETERS experiment.
PEIS technique experiments (Figure 3).
Firstly, a Va value of 0.5 mV was chosen. The
a. Excitation amplitude obtained EIS diagram is given in Figure 4.
The first parameter to determine is the value
of the potential excitation Va. Note that
before the 9.56 EC-Lab® version, excitation
amplitude was defined as Va (sinus
amplitude). Equivalence between Va, Vpp
(peak to peak amplitude) and VRMS is defined
by the relationship:

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 EC-Lab – Application Note #23
2010

battery 10Ah_Va=0.5m V_pw =0_Na=1_no drift_separate_12.m pr

-Im(Z) vs. Re(Z)

-Im(Z)/mOhm
0.5
626.00 Hz
0

-0.5

-1
8 10
Re(Z)/m Ohm

Figure 4: EIS diagram obtained with the following

Figure 5: Change of potential amplitude IEweI with
experimental conditions: Va = 0.5 mV, pw = 0, Na = 1 and
frequency.
no drift correction.

The value of III is small but in good agreement

Considering the poor quality of this EIS with the accuracy of the instrument (Figure 6).
diagram, we should analyze current and
potential amplitude values, which are
significant for EIS measurements (Figure 5&
Figure 6).

Indeed, the <Ewe> value, which is the open

circuit potential of the battery, is not
significant for the EIS measurement, but as
expected, this value is maintained during the
measurement.

The value of IEweI, which is the modulus of Figure 6: Change of current amplitude III with
the applied potential modulation is very small, frequency.
only 0.5 mV (Figure 5). Considering the
specifications of the instrument in impe- In this experiment, the critical parameter is
dance, signals smaller than 1 mV present the the amplitude of potential. Note however,
same level as the noise. At this point, in this that the current and/or potential can be
measurement, the value of potential critical parameters depending on the studied
amplitude (IEweI) is included in the system.
measurement noise that explains the poor To improve the EIS diagram, the Va value has
quality of the EIS diagram. to be changed. Considering the previous
results, it seems that an increase of the Va
value could help to obtain a good quality EIS
diagram.
Figure 7 gives the EIS diagram obtained with
10 mV as Va value.

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 EC-Lab – Application Note #23
2010

Figure 7: EIS diagram obtained with the following Figure 9: Comparison of EIS diagrams obtained with a
experimental conditions: Va = 10 mV, pw = 0, Na = 1 potential excitation Va of 0.5 mV (purple curve) and of
and no drift correction. 10 mV (red curve).

This time, the value of the potential amplitude b. pw value

(IEweI) is significant and in agreement with the The pw box offers the user the ability to add a
accuracy of the instrument. delay before the measurement at each
The influence of the increase of the Va value frequency. This delay is defined as a fraction
can clearly be seen on the comparison of the period. In other words, this delay offers
between EIS diagrams obtained with users the ability to let the system come out of
Va = 0.5 mV and with Va = 10 mV as shown in a transient period resulting from the
Figure 9. frequency transition and back to a steady-
state sinusoidal behavior. This parameter is
important especially for systems with a large
time constant.
The aim of this part of the measurement is to
show the effect of pw value on the EIS diagram
in comparison to a well-defined diagram (for
Va = 10 mV). Figure 10 shows a comparison
between two EIS diagrams obtained with two
values of pw (0 and 1) and Va = 0.5 mV and one
diagram obtained with Va = 10 mV and pw = 0.

Figure 10: Comparison of EIS diagrams obtained with

Va = 0.5 mV, Na = 1 with no drift correction and a value
Figure 8: Top: Change of potential amplitude IEweI with of pw equal to 0 (purple curve) or 1 (blue curve) with
frequency. Bottom: Change of current amplitude III EIS diagram obtained with Va = 10 mV (red curve).
with frequency.

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 EC-Lab – Application Note #23
2010

Firstly, we can see that the diagram obtained

with the value of pw = 1 is less noisy than the
one obtained with pw = 0. Moreover, this
diagram obtained with pw = 1 is almost
superimposed with the “correct” EIS diagram
obtained with Va = 10 mV.
This result means that it is possible to
compensate slightly for a noisy shape of an EIS
diagram just by increasing the pw value and
without disturbing the cell much. This result is
in agreement with a high time constant of the
system. Of course, this increases the
experiment time. For example in this
experiment for a value of pw of 0, a time of 6 s
is needed for one scan, whereas when the
value of pw is 1 a time of 13 s is needed for one
scan.

c. Na value
Na is the number of repetitions of
measurements at each frequency, and then
an average is carried out for each frequency. Figure 11: Repetition of EIS diagrams obtained with
This means that the noise is reduced following the following experimental conditions: Va = 0.5 mV,
the mathematical law N a . pw = 0, Na = 1 and no drift correction. Top: complete
In the following section, two values of Na were diagram, bottom: enlargement.
tested 1 and 36, the other parameters are
equal: Va = 0.5 mV, pw = 0, no drift correction, d. Drift correction
separate connection. The full frequency The drift correction tool is especially
sweep is repeated 15 times to show the data dedicated to systems with very long
point dispersion. relaxation times. Indeed, the unsteadiness of
Figure 11 shows the results obtained with systems can induce a slight deviation on the
Na = 1. It is possible to see that for each obtained impedance graphs compared with a
frequency the recorded points are not theoretical one. This tool is explained
superimposed. It is clearly visible on the extensively in reference [3].
enlargement.
Figure 12 shows the experiment done with III – CONCLUSION
Na = 36. Obviously, for each frequency, Great care should be taken to ensure
recorded points are superimposed, meaning optimized EIS results are obtained.. Indeed,
that the coordinates of each recorded point each parameter that is not well defined can
are not more affected by the surrounding have a huge influence on the final result as
noise. demonstrated by this application note.
Therefore, before carrying out a
measurement, experimental conditions have
to be defined with care, in agreement with the
studied system and the software in use. A
good compromise between significant results
and acceptable experiment times must be
found.

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 EC-Lab – Application Note #23
2010

This note gives an example of measurements

made for on Li-ion batteries; however, the
same precautions can be used with other
systems.

Figure 12: Repetition of EIS diagrams obtained with

the following experimental conditions: Va = 0.5 mV,
pw = 0, Na = 36 and no drift correction. Top: complete
diagram, bottom: enlargement.

Data files can be found in :

C:\Users\xxx\Documents\EC-
Lab\Data\Samples\Corrosion\battery
10Ah_Va=xmV_pw=x_Na=x_
drift?_connection?_repetition?_12

REFERENCES
1) Application Note #5 “Precautions for good
impedance measurements”
2) Application Note #9 “Linear vs. non linear
systems in impedance measurements”
3) Application Note #17 ”Drift correction in
electrochemical impedance measurements”

Revised in 08/2019

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