Electrochemical sensors for heavy metals detection in liquid media

Abstract

The detection of very small concentrations of heavy metal traces in liquid food is important for quality-of-life control. The design and the experimental technology for an electrochemical sensor on silicon with application in these determinations are presented in this article. Its particularity consists in the integration of all three electrodes on the same chip: the reference electrode (RE), contraelectrode (CE) and the working electrode (WE); the last electrode, WE, is designed like an array of nanoelectrodes in order to enhance the active area and to improve the limit of detection. The voltammetric measurement results and calibration curves of the electrochemical sensor are presented.

Keywords:

• Nanoelectrode arrays
• Cyclic voltammetry
• Heavy metals

Acknowledgement

The authors gratefully acknowledge the support of the EMERGE project no. HPRI-CT-1999-00023 for technological processes which were done in IM Mainz.