No abstract

No abstract

Zinc (Zn) homeostasis is required for a functional immune system. Critically ill patients often exhibit decreased Zn serum concentrations and could potentially benefit from Zn supplementation as a therapeutic strategy. However, the conventional approaches to monitoring Zn are time consuming and costly. This work reports on detection of Zn by anodic stripping voltammetry (ASV) on bismuth electrodes in a microfabricated electrochemical cell. The working potential window of the electrodeposited bismuth film electrode was investigated by cyclic voltammetry, while square wave ASV was used for measuring Zn in acetate buffer and blood serum. Conditions critical to sensing, such as preconcentration potential, preconcentration time, and buffer pH, were optimized for Zn detection. The sensor was successfully calibrated with pH 6 acetate buffer in the physiologically-relevant range of 5 μM to 50μM Zn and exhibited well-defined and highly repeatable peaks. The sensor was used to demonstrate measurement of Zn in blood serum digested in HCl. The results of this work show that Zn detection in serum is possible with smaller sample volumes (μL vs. μL) and faster turnaround time (hours vs. days) as compared with the conventional spectroscopic methods.

This work describes development of a lab-on-a-chip sensor for electrochemical detection of highly electro-negative heavy metals such as manganese and zinc by anodic stripping voltammetry. The sensor consists of a three-electrode system, with a bismuth working electrode, a Ag/AgCl reference electrode, and a Au auxiliary electrode. Hydrolysis at the auxiliary electrode is a critical challenge in such electrochemical sensors as its onset severely limits the ability to detect electronegative metals. The bismuth working electrode is used due to its comparable negative detection window and reduced toxicity with respect to a conventional mercury electrode. Through optimization of the sensor layout and the working electrode surface, effects of hydrolysis were substantially reduced and the potential window was extended to the −0.3 to −1.9 V range (vs. Ag/AgCl reference electrode), which is far more negative than what is possible with conventional Au, Pt, or carbon electrodes. The described lab-on-a-chip sensor for the first time permits reliable and sensitive detection of the highly electronegative manganese. The favorable performance of the bismuth electrode coupled with its environmentally-friendly nature make the described sensor attractive for applications where disposable chips are desirable. With further development and integrated sample preparation, the lab-on-a-chip may be converted into a point-of-care platform for monitoring heavy metals in blood (e.g., assessment of manganese exposure).

No abstract