Electrochemical sensing chemical oxygen demand based on the catalytic activity of cobalt oxide film

Cobalt oxide sensing film was in situ prepared on glassy carbon electrode surface via constant potential oxidation. Controlling at 0.8 V in NaOH solution, the high-valence cobalt catalytically oxidized the reduced compounds, decreasing its surface amount and current signal. The current decline was used as the response signal of chemical oxygen demand (COD) because COD represents the summation of reduced compounds in water. The surface morphology and electrocatalytic activity of cobalt oxide were readily tuned by variation of deposition potential, time, medium and Co²⁺ concentration. As confirmed from the atomic force microscopy measurements, the cobalt oxide film, that prepared at 1.3 V for 40 s in pH 4.6 acetate buffer containing 10 mM Co(NO₃)₂, possesses large surface roughness and numerous three-dimensional structures. Electrochemical tests indicated that the prepared cobalt oxide exhibited high electrocatalytic activity to the reduced compounds, accompanied with strong COD signal enhancement. As a result, a novel electrochemical sensor with high sensitivity, rapid response and operational simplicity was developed for COD. The detection limit was as low as 1.1 mg L⁻¹. The analytical application was studied using a large number of lake water samples, and the accuracy was tested by standard method.     

PDMS-based gold electrode for sensing ascorbic acid

Electrode with optical shapes is appreciated in microfluidics. In this article, we reported a flexible poly(dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS)-based gold electrode for ascorbic acid detection. Gold nanoparticles were chemically deposited on PDMS and the composite film was applied as working electrode. The electrode could undergo deformation and display good response performance without damage. This biosensor could give quick response to ascorbic acid (AA) (<5s) and the currents were linear with concentrations of AA in range of 0.023-7.00 mM and 30-100 mM, respectively. Limit of detection was 0.008 mM (S/N=3). This biosensor has been applied to determine ascorbic acid content in vitamin C tablets and the results were consistent with traditional iodometric method.     

Selective electrochemical sensing of calcium dobesilate based on the nano-Pd/CNTs modified pyrolytic graphite electrode

A new palladium nanoparticle functionalized multi-wall carbon nanotubes (nano-Pd/CNTs) modified pyrolytic graphite electrode (PGE) has been fabricated for electrochemical sensing of calcium dobesilate (CD) in pharmaceutical capsules. The nano-Pd/CNTs were characterized by transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD). The nano-Pd/CNTs composite showed a strong electrocatalytic property for CD. The anodic peak current is 6-fold than that obtained in bare PGE and the oxidation potential has an obvious shift to negative. The anodic peak current is proportional to the concentration of CD in the range of 1.0 × 10⁻⁷ to 7.0 × 10⁻⁴ mol L⁻¹, with a linear relative coefficient r = 0.999 and a detection limit 4.0 × 10⁻⁸ mol L⁻¹ (S/N = 3). This kind of electrode shows good stability, sensitivity, reproducibility, large linear range and low detection limit towards electrochemical determination of CD. The proposed method provides a selective and sensitive electrochemical sensor of calcium dobesilate.     

Voltammetry at a de Levie brush electrode as a model for electrochemical supercapacitor behaviour

Electrochemical supercapacitors provide electrical energy storage systems complementary to batteries. Based on the double layer capacitance of high area porous electrode materials, e.g. carbon powders, felts, foams, aerogels or on the redox pseudocapacitance of oxide or polymer films, specific capacitances of the order of 50100 F g⁻¹ are realizable. However, the porous nature of the electrode structures introduces a distribution of resistive and capacitative elements giving rise to electrical behaviour like that of a transmission line, as treated by de Levie, with a resulting complex power spectrum depending on charging or discharging rates. The present paper examines the cyclic voltammetry behaviour of de Levie type wire brush electrodes as models for porous electrodes, in comparison with that of single wire electrodes of the same metal. Comparisons are also made with constant current charging behaviour and with the electrochemical behaviour of specially made, 3 V, non aqueous solution, double layer capacitor modules, examined under similar conditions in relation to the current response profiles of a 5 RC element hardware model circuit. These approaches enable the effects of the distribution of R and C elements on charge acceptance and delivery at various rates to be quantitatively evaluated for various resistivities of the conducting electrolyte in pores.     

The coulometric determination of chemical oxygen demand

The chemical oxygen demand (COD) of solutions containing various organic compounds is calculated from the net faradaic charge (Q_net) estimated for the total electrolytic oxidation of Cr^III generated during oxidative degradation of the organic compounds in acidic media containing excess Cr^VI. Values of Q_net for conversion of Cr^III to Cr^VI are estimated from the linearized chronoamperometric data plotted as In {i_{tat, t}} vs. t. This procedure is preferred over determinations of Q_net from the total integrals of i_tot over the entire electrolysis period because of large errors that can result from uncertainty in the background current (i_bkg) for t → ∞. The proposed coulometric procedure offers the benefit that reagent solutions can be reused, thereby minimizing the need for disposal of wastes containing toxic Cr^VI. This procedure was applied in a single digest solution for consecutive determinations of COD. Average COD values for potassium acid phthalate and glucose were 103.8% (s - 6.0, N - 10) and 100.2% (s - 4.2, N - 11), respectively, based on the theoretical degradation to CO₂. In comparison for these same samples, an EPA approved method, based on colorimetric determination of Cr^III, gave COD values of 101.4% (S - 1.4, N - 5) and 100.1% (s - 1.4, N - 5) of the theoretical. Statistical tests indicate no significant difference in the COD values determined for these compounds using the coulometric and EPA methods.     

Towards CRISPR powered electrochemical sensing for smart diagnostics

Even though global health has been steadily improved, the global disease burden associated with communicable and non-communicable diseases extensively increased healthcare expenditure. The present COVID-19 pandemic scenario has again ascertained the importance of clinical diagnostics as a basis to make life-saving decisions. In this context, there is a need for developing next-generation integrated smart real-time responsive biosensors with high selectivity and sensitivity. The emergence of clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR)/Cas biosensing systems has shown remarkable potential for developing next-generation biosensors. CRISPR/Cas integrated electrochemical biosensors (E-CRISPR) stands out with excellent properties. In this opinionated review, we illustrate the rapidly evolving applications for E-CRISPR-integrated detection systems towards biosensing and the future scope associated with E-CRISPR based diagnostics.     

In situ monitoring of the rising of aqueous solution meniscus for a partially immersed silver electrode during electrochemical reduction of oxygen

Rising phenomena of aqueous solution meniscus were found for the silver electrode of a 5 MHz piezoelectric quartz crystal (PQC) partially immersed in Na₂SO₄, NaClO₄, HClO₄ and NaF aqueous solutions at oxygen reduction potentials, respectively. A detailed study revealed that a decrease in contact‐angle hysteresis (or a contact‐angle decrease) and a continued collection of the water product at the solid‐gas‐solution interface during oxygen reduction, rather than the electrocapillary effect and an agitation effect induced by the oscillation of PQC, are responsible for the meniscus‐rising phenomena. In addition, in situ determination of the immersed height of a partially immersed Ag electrode was studied on the basis of simultaneous measurements of the electroacoustic admittance and electrochemical impedance.     

Photoelectro-synergistic catalysis combined with a FIA system application on determination of chemical oxygen demand

In this paper, photoelectro-synergistic catalysis oxidation of organics in the water on Ti/TiO₂/PbO₂ electrode was investigated. The prepared TiO₂ film was investigated with Atomic force micrograph (AFM). Furthermore, the results were compared with those obtained from electrocatalysis (EC) and electro-assisted photocatalysis (PC). The method proposed employed photoelectro-synergistic catalysis (PEC), together with flow injection analysis, to determine the chemical oxygen demand (COD) values. It was shown that the method of photoelectro-synergistic catalysis had lower detection limit (15.0 mg l⁻¹) and wider linear range (30.0–2500.0 mg l⁻¹) than the methods of electro-assisted photocatalysis and electrocatalysis. The results obtained by the proposed method and conventional one were compared by carrying out the experiment on 20 wastewater samples and also agreed well by high correlation (R = 0.9912).     

DNA纳米网络修饰碳纤维盘电极及其分子传感应用

DNA immobilization on electrode surfaces has been widely used for fabricating sensors since DNA can interact with a wide variety of biomolecules. Recendy, DNA has been demonstrated as an electronic super conductor and become the most promising biomolecule for application of chemical sensing in biological system. Calf thymus DNA (ct-DNA) is a most popularly used native DNA in many applications. An electrochemical deposition on carbon fiber micro electrode can provide sensitive detection of dopamine in presence of large amount of ascorbic acid.     

A simple chemiluminescence method for determination of chemical oxygen demand values in water

In this paper, a low cost chemiluminescence detector with a photodiode instead of photo-multiplier tube (PMT) was developed for environmental monitoring of water quality. Based on the chemiluminescent reaction of luminol-H₂O₂-Cr³⁺ system, light emission caused by luminol-H₂O₂-Cr³⁺ system was detected by the photodiode, and its intensity caused by the appearance of Cr³⁺ after samples digestion was proportional to the chemical oxygen demand (COD). Effects for COD determining such as pH, concentrations, interference, and digestion procedures were investigated. The experimental results show that this suggested method uses an instrument that is simpler and cheaper than the previous ones used for the same purpose. The data obtained by the present method were fairly in good agreement with those obtained by the standard reflux titrimetric method. It has been applied to determine real samples with satisfactory results.     

电化学方法研究贮氢电极合金的P—C—T曲线

根据电化学和热力学的基础理论,考虑了氢气的逸度、碱液中水的活度以及碱液中水蒸汽的分压等影响因素,精确计算了金属氢化物电极反应的能斯特方程。结合三电极测试体系,建立了一套贮氢电极合金的P-C-T曲线电化学测定方法,并给出实验操作及相关参数确定的细节。该方法适用于涉及到大量实验工作的贮氢电极合金的成分优化及工艺研究。     

Chemiluminescence system for automatic determination of chemical oxygen demand using flow injection analysis

A novel chemiluminescence (CL) system for automatic determination of chemical oxygen demand (COD) combined with flow injection analysis is proposed in this paper. In this system, potassium permanganate is reduced to Mn²⁺ which is first adsorbed on a strongly acid cation-exchange resin mini-column to be concentrated during chemical oxidation of the organic compounds at room temperature, while the excessive MnO₄⁻ passes through the mini-column to be waste, then the concentrated Mn²⁺ is eluted reversely and measured by the luminol-H₂O₂ CL system. The calibration graph is linear in the range of 4-4000 mg l⁻¹ and the detection limit is 2 mg l⁻¹. A complete analysis could be performed in 1.5 min including washing and sampling, giving a throughout of about 40 h⁻¹. The relative standard deviation was 4.4% for 10 mg l⁻¹ COD (n=11), 4.8% for 100 mg l⁻¹ COD (n=11). This CL flow system for determination of COD is very simple, rapid and suitable for automatic and continuous analysis. The presented system has been applied successfully to the determination of COD of water samples.     

An introduction to bismuth film electrode for use in cathodic electrochemical detection

A new electrode surface design, the bismuth film electrode (BiFE), is presented as a promising alternative to mercury and other solid electrodes for direct cathodic electrochemical detection of organic compounds. The preparation of the BiFE, involving an ex situ electroplating of metallic bismuth onto a glassy carbon (GC) substrate electrode, was optimised. The useful negative potential windows of the BiFE in the pH range 1 (−0.2 to −0.8 V vs Ag/AgCl) to 10 (−0.2 to −1.5 V) were determined. The reproducibility of measuring 2-nitrophenol as a model compound (relative standard deviation, r.s.d., n=10) was found to be 0.5% at the same BiFE, and 1.0% at successive newly prepared BiFEs. No polishing or any other pre-treatment of the substrate GC surface was required prior to re-plating of a new Bi film. The BiFE showed similar or even favourable voltammetric behaviour when compared to mercury and bare GC electrodes, and was successfully tested for amperometric detection under hydrodynamic conditions. The results revealed that BiFE is an attractive new non-mercury metallic electrode particularly suitable for cathodic electrochemical detection in flow analytical systems.     

盐酸阿霉素在玻碳电极上的电化学行为研究及分析应用

采用线性扫描伏安法和循环伏安法研究了盐酸阿霉素在玻碳电极上的电化学行为及电极反应机理,优化了测定盐酸阿霉素的各实验参数。结果表明,在0.01 mol/L的HCl溶液中,盐酸阿霉素在-0.40 V处出现(vs.SCE)一灵敏的还原峰,峰电流与其溶液浓度在5.0×10-8~1.0×10-6mol/L(r=0.999)和1.0×10-6~1.0×10-5mol/L(r=0.998)范围内呈良好的线性关系,检出限为1.0×10-8mol/L。并用循环伏安法研究了盐酸阿霉素的峰电流性质,发现电极反应属于准可逆过程,出现一对灵敏的氧化还原峰,体系属准可逆吸附波。利用盐酸阿霉素在玻碳电极的电化学行为建立的分析方法可用于盐酸阿霉素的质量监控及药代动力学研究。     

Rapid estimation of biochemical oxygen demand

The feasibility of using columnar reactors containing immobilized microorganisms for the rapid estimation of BOD was demonstrated in this study. Dilutions of three types of industrial effluents were tested by the BOD₅ test and by this experimental system. A high degree of correlation (r = 0.98) was observed between results of the two tests. The mean standard error of estimation of the experimental system was 11%.     

羟胺在碳纳米管修饰玻碳电极上的电催化还原及电化学动力学性质研究

研究了羟胺在碳纳米管修饰玻碳电极(CNT/GC)上的电化学行为。研究结果表明,碳纳米管对羟胺的电化学行为有良好的电催化作用,在-0.62 V有一还原峰,是羟胺获得2个电子还原为铵所形成,同时测定了该电化学过程的动力学参数:电子转移数n为2,电子转移系数α为0.287,电极反应速率常数k为1.35×10-3cm/s。     

Modified carbon paste electrode for the electrochemical sensing of 3,5,6-trichloro-2-pyridinol

An electrochemical sensor for the determination of 3,5,6-trichloro-2-pyridinol (TCP), the main metabolite of the pesticide chlorpyrifos, was herein developed. TCP has greater solubility than the source pesticide, and its occurrence in ground and surface water is more frequent and more dangerous. The sensor was fabricated using carbon paste modified with the inorganic complex chloro-5,10,15,20-tetrakis-(pentafluorophenyl)-21 H,23 H-porphyrin iron(III) (FeTPPCl); this metallic complex has a chemical core structure similar to the heme cofactor of the cytochrome P450 (CYPs). Measurements were performed with square-wave voltammetry. Using the optimised voltammetric parameters and without any sample preparation, the sensor showed a limit of detection of 2.8 mg L^?1 (14 μmol L^?1), recoveries ca. 102%, suitable selectivity and long durability (over 1 month).     

Microwave-assisted template-free synthesis of butterfly-like CuO through Cu2Cl(OH)3 precursor and the electrochemical sensing property

An energy-efficient and environmentally friendly microwave-assisted method was adopted for synthesis of butterfly-like CuO assembled by nanosheets through a Cu₂Cl(OH)₃ precursor, using no template. Formation mechanism of the butterfly-like CuO was explored and discussed systematically for the first time on the basis of both experimental results and crystal structure transformations in atomic level. The electrochemical sensing properties of the butterfly-like CuO modified electrode to ascorbic acid (AA) were studied for the first time. The results reveal that Cu(OH)₂ nanowires were formed once the Cu²⁺ ions, located in between two CuO₄ parallelogram chains of a Cu₂Cl(OH)₃ precursor, dissolve into the solution as Cu(OH)₄²⁻ complex ions after ion exchange reactions and simultaneous assemble along a axis. Upon microwave irradiation, the adjacent CuO₄ parallelogram chains of the Cu(OH)₂ nanowires dehydrate and assemble along c axis, forming CuO nanosheets with (002) as the main exposed facet, which were further assembled to butterfly-like CuO under the action of microwave field, suggesting that microwave field functions like a ‘directing agent’. The butterfly-like CuO modified electrode shows good electrochemical sensing properties to AA with a low detecting limit, short response time and wide linear response range.