Remote Electrochemical Sensor for Monitoring Trace Mercury

Abstract

A newly designed remote probe has been developed for stripping measurements of trace mercury at large sample-instrument distances. Various gold electrodes, stripping modes, and operation conditions have been optimized to meet the requirement of remote monitoring of mercury. The favorable stripping potentiometric response obtained following 0.5-1.0 min deposition, leads to a rapid detection of low ppb mercury concentrations, and offers a fast warning capability. The optimized protocol offers a low detection limit ( of 0.3 mg/L with 5 min deposition) and good precision (RSD of 3.9 % for n ¼ 100). Due to its inherent sensitivity, simplicity, stability, and smaller dimensions the new probe is well suited for in situ monitoring of trace mercury in natural waters.

Microelectrode Arrays and Microfabricated Devices in Electrochemical Stripping Analysis

“…SEM [20,34,38,39,60,71] and optical microscopy [21,30] were used by several groups as a way to evaluate and control the fabrication process and the final device and to determine the geometric dimensions of the microelectrodes. AFM (usually in tapping mode) has been used to evaluate the morphology of the MEA surface [21,37,38,40,42,72].…”

In situ electrochemical monitoring: from remote sensors to submersible microlaboratories

“…The need for continuous monitoring of trace metals in a variety of matrices has led to the development of submersible sensors based on electrochemical stripping analysis [1,2]. Stripping analysis has been established as a powerful technique for determining toxic metals in environmental samples [3,4].…”

Nanostructured materials for sensing Pb(II) and Cd(II) ions: Manganese oxohydroxide versus carbonized polyanilines?

“…[10][11][12][13] Stripping voltammetry techniques employing a mercury (Hg) electrode were found to allow the detection of trace heavy metals. [14][15][16] However, the high toxicity of Hg has initiated the search for novel electrode materials for the sensing of heavy metal ions and different materials such as bismuth (Bi), [17][18][19] gold (Au), 20 silver (Ag), 20 antimony (Sb), 21 carbon (C), 22,23 and boron-doped diamond (BDD) 24,25 have been investigated.…”