Electrochemical Characterization of Commercial and Home-Made Screen-Printed Carbon Electrodes

Abstract

Screen-printing technology is widely used for the mass-production of\ndisposable electrochemical sensors. The practical utility of carbon\nscreen-printed electrodes has been exploited, despite the fact that\nlittle is known about the nature of the electrode reactions.\n(Wang, J.; Pedrero, M.; Sakslumd, H.; Hammerich, O.; Pingarron, J.\nElectrochemical activation of screenprinted carbon strips. The\nAnalyst 1996, 121 (3), 345–350). Given the complexity of carbon\nelectrodesin general, and differences in the composition of commercial\ncarbon inks, the question arises as to how such differences and\ncomplexity affect their electrochemical reactivity. The aim of this work wasto compare the electroactivity of both commercial electrodesand\nelectrodes fabricated in-house from various commercial\ninks, in order to find the electrode most suited to amperometric\nsensor work. Methods of analysis include cyclic voltammetry,\namperometry and linear sweep voltammetry. It was found that the\ncommercial working electrodeswere not suited to the high current\nwork of interest, due to their poor charge transfer properties. The\nin-house electrode had less resistive properties, and was more suited\nfor high current amperometric sensing. Utilizing this electrode\nconfiguration, an optimal carbon paste was chosen for the working\nelectrode.