QEchemMEMS – A working electrode with high-resolution temperature sensing for studying electrochemical heat management systems

Electrochemical heat pumps are a new and interesting concept for efficient thermal energy management at the micro- and macro-scale. The development of new solutions for electrochemical heat pumps requires reliable and high-resolution measurements of the temperature changes resulting from redox reactions. A device for measuring such temperature variations, manufactured using microelectromechanical system technology, is presented and characterized in this study. The device contains a platinum working electrode suspended on a thin SixNy membrane for the electrochemical cell; this electrode also serves as a resistive thermal device (RTD). The device and temperature readout electronic implementations of the Anderson loop are characterized. The temperature coefficient of resistance is 2736 ppm/K. The theoretical noise performance is predicted and verified in practice. The voltage noise of the RTD is 28 nV, which results in a temperature measurement resolution of 1.3 mK despite a very small RTD bias current of 40 µA. [Display omitted] •QEchemMEMS serves as working electrode and thermal sensor.•QEchem system comprise of QEchemMEMS, electrochemical cell and precise electronics.•it will be used for research on electrochemical heat pump.•it can measure temperature changes with 1.3 mK resolution in 10 Hz bandwidth.