Microfluidic sensor integrated with nanochannel liquid conjunct Ag/AgCl reference electrode for trace Pb(II)
Jinying Dai1, Wanlei Gao1, Jiawen Yin2
1Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Ningbo University, Ningbo, 315211, PR China; State Key Laboratory of Transducer Technology, Shanghai Institute of Microsystem and Information Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, 200050, PR China.
Analytica Chimica Acta
|May 16, 2021
Summary
A novel microfluidic sensor offers stable and sensitive detection of lead (Pb2+) in water. This miniaturized heavy metal sensor is ideal for developing large-scale water quality monitoring networks.
Area of Science:
- Environmental Science
- Analytical Chemistry
- Materials Science
Background:
- Heavy metal pollution poses increasing environmental and health risks.
- There is a growing need for efficient, large-scale water quality monitoring systems.
- Development of integrated and miniaturized sensors is crucial for detecting heavy metals.
Purpose of the Study:
- To propose an integrated microfluidic sensor for the sensitive detection of lead ions (Pb2+).
- To evaluate the sensor's stability, sensitivity, selectivity, and linearity for lead detection.
Main Methods:
- Fabrication of a "glass-silicon-glass" sandwich structured microfluidic sensor.
- Integration of a nanochannel liquid conjunct Ag/AgCl reference electrode (RE) and a working electrode with a 3D Au micropillar array.
- Electrochemical measurements for lead detection in water samples.
Main Results:
- The sensor demonstrated excellent potential stability of the RE (0.62% fluctuation over seven days).
- Achieved a limit of detection of 0.13 μg L⁻¹ for lead with high sensitivity (52.30 nA (μg L⁻¹)⁻¹).
- Exhibited good linearity (R² = 0.9989) in the 0.50-150 μg L⁻¹ range and high selectivity for Pb2+.
Conclusions:
- The integrated microfluidic sensor is a practical and miniaturized tool for trace lead detection.
- The sensor's performance supports its application in large-scale sensor networks for water monitoring.
- This technology contributes to addressing the challenges of heavy metal pollution in water resources.
