Electrochemical accelerometer with DC response, experimental and theoretical study

• The theoretical model of the charge transfer in converting cell of the electrochemical accelerometer has been developed.
• The analytical solution was found in the one-dimensional approximation.
• An experimental sample of the DC electrochemical accelerometer has been produced and tested.
• The experimental behavior of the accelerometer amplitude characteristic is in good agreement with the modeling results.

The subject of the studies presented in the paper is the electrochemical accelerometer capable of detecting DC signal. The accelerometer comprises a four electrode electrochemical cell placed in water based solution of potassium iodide with a small amount of iodine. Two electrodes work as anodes and two others as cathodes. The specific density of the liquid decreases in the space close to the cathodes as a result of electrochemical reactions. If an external acceleration is applied, the spatial variations of the specific density result in convection. In turn, the convection modifies the interelectrode currents, allowing to determine the amplitude and the direction of the acceleration. The dependence of the electrode current on the DC input signal amplitude was studied both analytically and experimentally. The theoretical model of the operation is based on the convective diffusion equation for active I3−I3−ions and the equation for electrochemical potential. The boundary conditions are based on the electrochemical kinetics equations simplified by applying the condition of high concentration of the background electrolyte. Despite the simplicity of the model, such approach brings the results that are in a good agreement with the experimental data.