Recent Publications Feed (ADMIN)

Nanopipettes are widely used in electrochemical and analytical techniques as tools for sizing, sequencing, sensing, delivery, and imaging. For all of these applications, the response of a nanopipette is strongly affected by its geometry and surface chemistry. As the size of nanopipettes becomes smaller, precise geometric characterization is increasingly important, especially if nanopipette probes are to be used for quantitative studies and analysis. This contribution highlights the combination of data from voltage–scanning ion conductivity experiments, transmission electron microscopy and finite element method simulations to fully characterize nanopipette geometry and surface charge characteristics, with an accuracy not achievable using existing approaches. Indeed, it is shown that presently used methods for characterization can lead to highly erroneous information on nanopipettes. The new approach to characterization further facilitates high-level quantification of the behavior of nanopipettes in electrochemical systems, as demonstrated herein for a scanning ion conductance microscope setup.

Scanning ion conductance microscopy (SICM) is a powerful technique for imaging the topography of a wide range of materials and interfaces. In this report, we develop the use and scope of SICM, showing how it can be used for mapping spatial distributions of ionic fluxes due to (electro)chemical reactions occurring at interfaces. The basic idea is that there is a change of ion conductance inside a nanopipet probe when it approaches an active site, where the ionic composition is different to that in bulk solution, and this can be sensed via the current flow in the nanopipet with an applied bias. Careful tuning of the tip potential allows the current response to be sensitive to either topography or activity, if desired. Furthermore, the use of a distance modulation SICM scheme allows reasonably faithful probe positioning using the resulting ac response, irrespective of whether there is a reaction at the interface that changes the local ionic composition. Both strategies (distance modulation or tuned bias) allow simultaneous topography-activity mapping with a single channel probe. The application of SICM reaction imaging is demonstrated on several examples, including voltammetric mapping of electrocatalytic reactions on electrodes and high-speed electrochemical imaging at rates approaching 4 s per image frame. These two distinct approaches provide movies of electrochemical current as a function of potential with hundreds of frames (images) of surface reactivity, to reveal a wealth of spatially resolved information on potential- (and time) dependent electrochemical phenomena. The experimental studies are supported by detailed finite element method modeling that places the technique on a quantitative footing.

The application of electrochemical X-ray fluorescence (EC-XRF), for the detection of palladium (Pd) contamination in a range of solutions containing electrochemically active compounds, present in excess and relevant to the pharmaceutical and food industries, is reported. In EC-XRF, EC is used to electrochemically pre-concentrate metal on an electrode under forced convection conditions, whilst XRF is employed to spectroscopically quantify the amount of metal deposited, which quantitatively correlates with the original metal concentration in solution. Boron doped diamond is used as the electrode due to its very wide cathodic window and the fact that B and C are non-interfering elements for XRF analysis. The effect of several parameters on the Pd XRF signal intensity are explored including: deposition potential (E_dep), deposition time (t_dep) and Pd²⁺ concentration, [Pd²⁺]. Under high deposition potentials (E_dep = −1.5 V), the Pd XRF peak intensity varies linearly with both t_dep and [Pd²⁺]. Quantification of [Pd²⁺] is demonstrated in the presence of excess acetaminophen (ACM), L-ascorbic acid, caffeine and riboflavin. We show the same Pd XRF signal intensity (for [Pd²⁺] = 1.1 μM and t_dep = 325 s) is observed, i.e. same amount of Pd is deposited on the electrode surface, irrespective of whether these redox active molecules are present or absent. For t_dep = 900 s we report a limit of detection for [Pd²⁺] of 3.6 ppb (34 nM). Even lower LODs are possible by increasing t_dep or by optimising the X-ray source specifically for Pd. The work presented for Pd detection in the presence of ACM, achieves the required detection sensitivity stipulated by international pharmacopeia guidelines.