Long-optical-path thin-layer spectroelectrochemical flow cell with inexpensive gold electrodes

摘要

A novel long-optical-path thin-layer spectroelectrochemical cell for flow systems is described and its suitability for in situ UV-visible applications, demonstrated. Gold electrodes with flat surface are simply cut from standard recordable CDs of the gold sputtered type. After removal of the protecting polymer layer, the area of the working and auxiliary coplanar electrodes is delineated by scraping off the gold layer. A set of twin electrodes is placed face to face within any standard spectrophotometric cuvette with 1.0 cm optical path. The sample is introduced with a syringe or peristaltic pump and reaches the bottom of the working electrodes through a PTFE tube. Evaluation was done with o-tolidine in acidic medium as a model system, and gave good results under stationary conditions and in the FIA mode. The appropriateness of the tell for flow operation including FlA, good potential control, simplicity of construction and maintenance, easy adaptability to existing instrumentation and a cost lower than any other proposed model are advantages of the innovative cell design. [References: 26]