Screen-printed electrodes (SPEs) having the three partitions (WE, CE and RE) can work more efficient and can be more sensitive if used instead of the three-electrode system? or that does not make a difference?
Hello Elbardisy
As far as of my working experience using SPEs, getting a reproducible data is bit difficult and sensitivity is highly efficient. SPEs have many merits than normal GCE system. If you could ask further more in detail, I could brief you much more in this regard.
Yes, screen-printed electrodes can be used in place of a three-electrode system, but just for one or a few tests. In other words, these electrodes can, for example, be valid for the design of biosensors, but they are discarded as soon as they lose their effectiveness (it is a disposable system - limited in time). Indeed, the substrates that we use in practice as WE, CE and RE become polarized over time because a physicochemical modification of the surface of these electrodes can take place following a passivation, an electrodeposition, a strong adsorption of species,… .. which in this case will lead to a loss of efficiency and sensitivity of the electrodes used.
Hello Hadil Mamdouh Elbardisy
I agree with Shiva Kumar , when moving towards portable and miniaturized electrode systems, it is more difficult to achieve reliable experiments because the reproducibility of dimensions at the micro and nanoscale is more difficult to control. The advantage of SPE is that the three electrodes are very close to each other and this can limit interfering signals as well as amplify the current output. Also, depending on the material of your SPE and the quality of its surface you could also lose in electron transfer efficiency/kinetics.
Just a quick tip: performing electrochemical cleaning can really help to condition the electrode surface and improve results (generally using sulfuric acid).
Best regards,
Marie B.
- Badges
- Science topic
- Similar topics
- Engineering
- Electrical Engineering
- Electrodes