Modern Potentiostat Architectures for Electrochemical Sensing: Design, Integration, and Future Directions
Year: 2026
Type: article
Abstract: Potentiostats are essential to electrochemical sensing, enabling precise control of electrode potentials and measurement of current responses. As demand grows for portable, wearable, and point-of-care systems, potentiostat design has evolved from benchtop instruments to compact, low-power, and wirelessly connected platforms. This review provides a comprehensive, system-level perspective on modern potentiostat architectures, covering operational principles, analog front-end design, signal generation and acquisition, communication protocols, and software integration. Unlike prior reviews that treat these aspects independently, this work integrates electrochemical theory with electronic design and data communication frameworks. Key components, including operational amplifiers, transimpedance amplifiers, DAC/ADC subsystems, and microcontroller-based control, are examined alongside communication protocols such as SPI, I2C, Bluetooth Low Energy, Wi-Fi, and NFC. Critical challenges related to miniaturization, noise, power constraints, and reproducibility are analyzed using representative platforms. This review highlights the transition of potentiostats into integrated, intelligent, and connected sensing systems, and outlines design considerations for scalable electrochemical applications in clinical, environmental, and industrial domains.
Source: Micromachines
DOI: 10.3390/mi17060635
Authors: Reagan Aviha, Gymama Slaughter
Institution: Old Dominion University
Language: English
Subfield: Electrochemistry
Field: Chemistry
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: gold
Estimated APC paid: $2,534
OpenAlex ID: W7162115394