In this work, a coulometer was developed from a digitally controlled galvanostat. A simple colorimeter based on a RGB LED was used as a light emitter coupled to light detectors, while light dependent resistance (LDR) and photodiodes have been developed as endpoint detectors. Both hardware and software have been adapted from the original galvanostat design. Regarding the hardware, new electrical signal conditioners (filters and voltage dividers) were included to optimize the working system. The software was developed based on an open source Arduino UNO microcontroller. The different variables that control the titration process are managed by an add-in module for Excel data acquisition software that is freely available. A study of the possible variables that influence the titration process has been carried out. The system was tested with two classical coulometric titrations such as iodometry (thiosulfate, ascorbic acid) and acid/base (potassium acid phthalate as standard). The developed system is versatile as different endpoint color indicators can be employed (starch and phenolphthalein for the investigated reactions). Different experimental arrangements have been studied: the nature of the electrodes (Pt, Ag), type of cells (two separate compartments or a single compartment), and light detectors (LDR, photodiode). The influence of several experimental parameters (both electrical, light, and integration time) was studied and chosen to obtain the best performance of the complete system. Reproducibility results below 1% can be obtained under controlled conditions. In the case of acid/base titrations, the presence of atmospheric carbon dioxide was detected, whose interference was mainly affected by the stirring rate and the titration time.
Keywords: coulometry; electrochemical instrumentation; galvanostat; optical detector.