I have been observing some of the microelectrodes straightaway after printing need to go under surface activation to get the functional sensors. Using electrochemical conditioning through Palmsens is preferred to be used for surface activation of gold electrodes.
Kindly suggest me the best activation method to obtain the functional sensors.
your time and prompt response would be highly appreciated!!
Dear Muhsin,
welcome!
In order to activate the surface of any material you must remove any contaminations from the surface. May be one of the effective methods to treat the surface with Gold etching solution.
For the proper gold etching solution you can consult the literature.
Best wishes
In the past I used to cycle gold electrodes in 1M H2SO4, the advantage of this method is that you can calculate the surface area, and get an idea of the crystallinity of the surface (from the gold oxidation peak). This may be to laborious, for cleaning I found a mixture of methanol and concentrated perchloric acid (sulfuric may also work) satisfactory, the solution should be made fresh.
Best regards, Mike
Dear Muhsin Ali ,
In order to re-activate (by a set of some good electrochemical conditioning) the surface of the gold[1] electrode (WE ?) give us a hint about the (possible) contamination(s) material(s); it will help us to propose/select some recommended conditions[1,2,3] for your case.
Electrochemical techniques, such as cyclic voltammetry (CV) and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) offer a non-invasive approach to follow[1-4] and monitor (In-situ[4]) the progress of the cleaning[3] process.
PS: Also, describe, if possible, all the other materials of the microelectrodes (CE, RE, ...) based on the same(?) substrate material (?).
1. Certain Methods of Electrode Pretreatment Create Misleading Responses in Impedimetric Aptamer Biosensors https://pubs.acs.org/doi/full/10.1021/acsomega.9b00075
2. What is the best way for maintenance of pure gold electrode for stripping voltammetry? https://www.researchgate.net/post/What_is_the_best_way_for_maintenance_of_pure_gold_electrode_for_stripping_voltammetry
3. Gold cleaning methods for electrochemical detection applications https://www.researchgate.net/publication/225291703_Gold_cleaning_methods_for_electrochemical_detection_applications
4. In-situ electrochemical analysis of microbial activity https://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s13568-018-0692-2
To my knowledge, activating the surface of Au is possible by using a plasma surface treatment. There are systems available that can handle this job.
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