Voltammetric pH sensor based on electrochemically modified pseudo-graphite

Insight into the role of nitrogen in N-doped ordered mesoporous carbons for the spontaneous non-covalent attachment and electrografting of redox-active materials

The role of nitrogen functional groups in nitrogen-doped ordered mesoporous carbons (OMCs) toward the spontaneous non-covalent and electrografting was investigated using two home-made ionic liquid-derived ordered mesoporous carbons having different nitrogen concentrations (guanine-rich ionic liquid-derived ordered mesoporous carbon (GIOMC) and ionic liquid-derived ordered mesoporous carbon (IOMC)). The carbonaceous materials were fabricated by the carbonization of a mixture of ionic liquid (1-methyl-3-phenethyl-1H-imidazolium hydrogen sulfate) as a carbon source using SBA-15 as a hard template. Guanine was used during the carbonization of GIOMC as a nitrogen source. The electrode was modified with either GIOMC or IOMC followed by electrochemical surface functionalization with a few electro-active precursors as redox-active molecular models bearing different substituents and electronic properties. The high surface coverage of 5.6(±0.3) × 10^-9 mol cm^-2 for 4,4-biphenol was obtained for the GIOMC-modified electrode. We seek to explain whether the nitrogen content could indeed exert a dramatic impact on loading electroactive species on the electrode surface. The non-covalent anchoring studies indicated that at higher pH values the loading of electro-active moieties was significantly influenced by the content of nitrogen on the employed OMCs. The adsorption capacity (mg g^-1) of the OMCs was studied for catechol as a typical electro-active species in the range of 0.050-0.165 mg ml^-1. The adsorption capacity of 0.11 mg g^-1 catechol was 42(±4) and 26(±3) mg g^-1 for GIOMC and IOMC, respectively. In addition, our observations revealed that electro-grafting efficiency via diazonium ion was restricted by the protonation of nitrogen in the reaction media. Further, the fabricated redox-active/N-doped OMC electrodes showed sensitivity to pH, which was accompanied by either a Nernstian shift of the redox peak potentials (60(±3) mV per pH) in the pH range of 2-13 in the buffer solutions or variations of the redox peak currents (9.7(±0.3) μA per pH) in the pH range of 1-5.5 in the unbuffered situations. The resulting electrodes as voltammetric pH probes showed a simple response to pH in both buffer and unbuffered solutions. In addition, we introduced the fabricated electrode as a zero-gap generator/collector electrode system using a single electrode to recognize proton-dependent electron transfer from the proton-independent electrode process by detecting pH changes quite close to the surface of the electrode. The detailed descriptions are outlined.

High resolution voltammetric and field-effect transistor readout of carbon fiber microelectrode biosensors

Rapid and sensitive pH measurements with increased spatiotemporal resolution are imperative to probe neurochemical signals and illuminate brain function. We interfaced carbon fiber microelectrode (CFME) sensors with both fast scan cyclic voltammetry (FSCV) and field-effect transistor (FET) transducers for dynamic pH measurements. The electrochemical oxidation and reduction of functional groups on the surface of CFMEs affect their response over a physiologically relevant pH range. When measured with FET transducers, the sensitivity of the measurements over the measured pH range was found to be (101 ± 18) mV, which exceeded the Nernstian value of 59 mV by approximately 70%. Finally, we validated the functionality of CFMEs as pH sensors with FSCV ex vivo in rat brain coronal slices with exogenously applied solutions of varying pH values indicating that potential in vivo study is feasible.

Highly sensitive CFMEs as a pH sensor in tandem with both FET and FSCV methods having ex vivo sensing capability is demonstrated.

Recent Advances in Optical, Electrochemical and Field Effect pH Sensors

Although its first definition dates back to more than a century ago, pH and its measurement are still studied for improving the performance of current sensors in everyday analysis. The gold standard is the glass electrode, but its intrinsic fragility and need of frequent calibration are pushing the research field towards alternative sensitive devices and materials. In this review, we describe the most recent optical, electrochemical, and transistor-based sensors to provide an overview on the status of the scientific efforts towards pH sensing.

Voltammetric pH Measurements in Unadulterated Foodstuffs, Urine, and Serum with 3D-Printed Graphene/Poly(Lactic Acid) Electrodes

The pH of a system is a critical descriptor of its chemistry-impacting reaction rates, solubility, chemical speciation, and homeostasis. As a result, pH is one of the most commonly measured parameters in food safety, clinical, and environmental laboratories. Glass pH probes are the gold standard for pH measurements but suffer drawbacks including frequent recalibration, wet storage of the glass membrane, difficulty in miniaturization, and interferences from alkali metals. In this work, we describe a voltammetric pH sensor that uses a three-dimensional (3D)-printed graphene/poly(lactic acid) filament electrode that is pretreated to introduce quinone functional groups to the graphene surface. After thoroughly characterizing the pretreatment parameters using outer-sphere and inner-sphere redox couples, we measured pH by reducing the surface-bound quinones, which undergo a pH-dependent 2e^-/2H⁺ reduction. The position of the redox peak was found to shift -60 ± 2 mV pH^-1 at 25 °C, which is in excellent agreement with the theoretical value predicted by the Nernst Equation (-59.2 mV pH^-1). Importantly, the sensors did not require the removal of dissolved oxygen prior to successful pH measurements. We investigated the impact of common interfering species (Pb²⁺ and Cu²⁺) and found that there was no impact on the measured pH. We subsequently challenged the sensors to measure the pH of unadulterated complex samples, including cola, vinegar, an antacid tablet slurry, serum, and urine, and obtained excellent agreement compared to a glass pH electrode. In addition to the positive analytical characteristics, the sensors are extremely cheap and easy to fabricate, making them highly accessible to a wide range of researchers. These results pave the way for customizable pH sensors that can be fabricated in (nearly) any geometry for targeted applications using 3D printing.