Create and save your own protocols

Create and Save Your Own Protocols

BioLogic EC-Lab® software allows you to create custom protocols – link several techniques within the same experimental protocol – to suit your specific experimental needs. This guide explains how to design, customize, and save protocols for electrochemical experiments.

Why create custom protocols?

Standard protocols provide a starting point, but custom protocols allow you to:

• Tailor experiments to your specific research requirements
• Combine multiple techniques in a single workflow
• Optimize parameters for your particular system
• Save time by reusing proven experimental sequences

How to save and reuse your custom protocols?

To repeat your experiment, you may have already reloaded a .mps file containing technique settings or a .mpr data file that also loads the related settings. A more efficient option is available through the custom application feature. Once you’ve defined your settings, save them directly as a complete configuration. You can then access this saved configuration in the custom applications section of the technique list for future experiments.

Note: Another useful feature is “Set Settings As Default” (available in “Edit” in the main menu) to replace the default settings of the technique by your specific regular settings every time the technique is added in the experiment list.

Which settings does a custom protocol include?

Experimental protocols consist of more than just a combination of techniques, they also include external device configuration, cell characteristics, advanced settings, and safety limits. When loading a protocol from a custom application (or a simple technique), users can selectively choose which settings to retain by checking or unchecking the corresponding boxes. This allows you to maintain consistent settings across identical cells or modify parameters for individual cells as needed. With the same logic, an external device such as a Rotating Disk electrode can be set and included in the custom technique.

Not familiar with the different type of settings?

In addition to basic parameter settings that control key experimental variables, recording, and technique limits, the experiment protocol also includes Safety/Advanced Settings, Cell Characteristics, and External Device Configuration.

Safety/Advanced Settings contain advanced configurations for safety limits, recording option such as EIS QI^TM as well as cell configurations (floating or ground mode, CE to ground…)

Cell characteristics enable users to add specific values associated with the cell under test such as specific capacity, electrode area, or active material mass. These user inputs are needed to calculate energy density or C-rate for example.

External device configurations contain information used to convert an external device signal in user’s variables such as temperature or rotation speed. External devices are often used to control devices such as climate chambers, temperature probes, rotating disk electrodes, etc.

Conclusion

Creating and saving custom protocols streamlines your electrochemical research by consolidating your optimized experimental workflows into reusable configurations. By combining multiple techniques, defining safety parameters, specifying cell characteristics, and configuring external devices within a single protocol, you eliminate repetitive setup tasks and ensure consistency across experiments. The ability to selectively load specific settings gives you the flexibility to maintain standardized conditions while adapting parameters as needed for different cells or experimental variations. Whether you’re running routine analyses or complex multi-technique sequences, custom protocols transform your potentiostat into a more efficient and reliable research tool, allowing you to focus on data analysis rather than instrument configuration.

Discover other EC-lab® software features to help you work smarter here