Considerations on electrical impedance measurements of electrolyte solutions in a four-electrode cell

A tetrapolar probe to measure the electrical properties of electrolyte solutions was implemented with gold electrodes according to the van der Pauw method. Electrical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) measurements of different concentrations of phosphate buffer saline (PBS) solution and an oral mucosal tissue sample dispersed in PBS were performed in the galvanostatic mode using a four-electrode cell (tetrapolar probe). Taking advantage of using a potentiostat/galvanostat for carrying out the electrical measurements, a simple and rapid method using a three-electrode electrochemical cell is described for: a) cleaning of electrodes, b) verification of surface chemical state of electrode material and c) choice of current supplied to electrodes for EIS measurements. Results of this research shown a depolarization effect due to the addition of oral mucosa tissue cells into the PBS solution.