Issue 9, 2016

Can the mechanical activation (polishing) of screen-printed electrodes enhance their electroanalytical response?

Abstract

The mechanical activation (polishing) of screen-printed electrodes (SPEs) is explored and shown to exhibit an improved voltammetric response (in specific cases) when polished with either commonly available alumina slurry or diamond spray. Proof-of-concept is demonstrated for the electrochemical sensing of nitrite where an increase in the voltammetric current is found using both polishing protocols, exhibiting an improved limit of detection (3σ) and a two-fold increase in the electroanalytical sensitivity compared to the respective un-polished counterpart. It is found that mechanical activation/polishing increases the C/O ratio which significantly affects inner-sphere electrochemical probes only (whereas outer-sphere systems remain unaffected). Mechanical activation/polishing has the potential to be a simple pre-treatment technique that can be extended and routinely applied towards other analytes for an observable improvement in the electroanalytical response.

Graphical abstract: Can the mechanical activation (polishing) of screen-printed electrodes enhance their electroanalytical response?

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
23 yan 2016
Accepted
04 fev 2016
First published
04 fev 2016
This article is Open Access
Creative Commons BY license

Analyst, 2016,141, 2791-2799

Can the mechanical activation (polishing) of screen-printed electrodes enhance their electroanalytical response?

L. R. Cumba, C. W. Foster, D. A. C. Brownson, J. P. Smith, J. Iniesta, B. Thakur, D. R. do Carmo and C. E. Banks, Analyst, 2016, 141, 2791 DOI: 10.1039/C6AN00167J

This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported Licence. You can use material from this article in other publications without requesting further permissions from the RSC, provided that the correct acknowledgement is given.

Read more about how to correctly acknowledge RSC content.

Social activity

Spotlight

Advertisements