Developing Activated Carbon Veil Electrode for Sensing Salivary Uric Acid

Area of Science:

• Electrochemistry
• Analytical Chemistry
• Materials Science

Background:

• Uric acid (UA) is a significant component of saliva, contributing to its antioxidant activity (AOA).
• Accurate and rapid determination of UA in saliva is crucial for health monitoring.
• Existing methods for UA detection may lack sensitivity, scalability, or cost-effectiveness.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a novel carbon veil-based electrode (CVE) for sensitive and selective determination of uric acid (UA) in saliva.
• To investigate the effect of electrochemical activation on the electrode's surface properties and performance.
• To evaluate the sensor's analytical characteristics and potential for practical application in saliva analysis.

Main Methods:

• Fabrication of carbon veil-based electrodes (CVE) using lamination technology.
• Electrochemical activation of CVEs via potentiostatic polarization in H2SO4 solution.
• Characterization using energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS), electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS), chronoamperometry, and linear sweep voltammetry (LSV).

Main Results:

• Electrochemical activation (CVEact) significantly increased surface area (1.5x), oxygen/nitrogen groups, and reduced charge transfer resistance.
• CVEact lowered UA oxidation potential by over 0.4 V compared to non-activated CVE.
• The developed sensor exhibited a low detection limit (0.05 µM), wide linear range (0.09-700 µM), high recovery (96-105%), and low RSD (≤3.9%).

Conclusions:

• The electrochemically activated carbon veil-based electrode (CVEact) is a highly sensitive and effective sensor for UA determination in saliva.
• The simple, scalable, and cost-effective manufacturing process makes CVEact suitable for widespread application.
• The sensor demonstrates potential for quick and reliable assessment of UA levels and its contribution to saliva's antioxidant activity.