Chapter Two - Metal oxide-modified electrochemical sensors for toxic chemicals

Abstract

Toxic chemicals such as nitrogenous compounds, phenols, sulfurs, quinolines, toluene, etc., greatly affect human health. Mostly, toxic chemicals can enter the human body through extensive use of animal-derived foods, which affect the human physiological system. Inhalation of toxic chemicals can cause acute poisoning, and long-term intake of toxic chemicals leads to cancers in the human body. Many detection techniques have been developed to control and monitor to use of toxic chemicals such as electrochemical sensors, fluorescence sensors, and surface-enhanced Raman scattering sensors. Among these, electrochemical sensors are an important analytical technique for the detection of toxic chemicals due to low cost, high portability, and precision. Metal oxides play an important role in the fabrication of electrochemical sensors. Furthermore, the fabrication of sensors using of metal oxides improves their sensing selectivity, stability, and sensitivity. Hence, metal oxides are good electrochemical sensors for the detection of toxic chemicals.