Voltammetric sensing

Thesis

Electrochemical analysis using mercury electrodes has been a prominent methodology since the beginning of voltammetry, however, due to its toxic nature their use is being slowly phased out in favour of environmentally friendlier alternatives. In this thesis, carbon electrodes feature heavily as a means to provide a cheaper and non-toxic approach to voltammmetric sensing. Pulse techniques have been used for the sensitive detection of commonly studied analytes, including antimony and iron.

A simple fabrication of a vibrating electrode is presented by modifying a commercially available vibrating toothbrush with platinum foil as a means to enhance mass transport for electroanalytical work.

Finally, pH determination at carbon electrodes is investigated. Carbon electrodes have been proposed as a simple sensor for pH determination by exploiting the pH sensitive nature of surface quinone groups intrinsic within carbon edge-plane like sites. Using this approach, both EPPG and GC electrodes are suggested as new materials for pH determination and can be used in aqueous solutions over the pH range 1.0 to 13.0, as a cheap and simple alternative to the classic glass electrode.

Authors: Lu, M

• Publication date: 2014
• Type of award: DPhil
• Level of award: Doctoral
• Awarding institution: University of Oxford
• Language: English
• Keywords: electroanalysis
• Subjects: Electrochemistry and electrolysis; Physical & theoretical chemistry