Environmental noise from power lines, surrounding equipment and instruments, lighting, HVAC systems, etc. are present in all laboratory environments. Whether or not this noise has a significant impact on the data being generated depends on the sensitivity of the experiment. In electrochemical analysis, low current and/or high frequency experiments are especially susceptible to the interference of environmental noise. There are a variety of noise mitigation techniques that can be implemented before, during and after data is acquired.
One of the most effective methods is the use of a Faraday Cage. A Faraday Cage is simply a metallic conductor in the form of a metal sheet or fine wire mesh that surrounds the electrochemical cell and the connections to the cell cable that acts to shield anything housed in the cage from the effects of external electric fields. All electrochemical experiments can benefit from the noise reducing properties of a Faraday Cage. Princeton Applied Research offers two different options, the standard faraday cage is large enough to meet the needs of most researchers and able to accommodate the VersaSTAT LC, while an oversized faraday cage designed for use with the VersaSCAN is also available.