Recovery and reuse of palladium from spent glucometer electrochemical test strips

Abstract

Glucometer electrochemical test strips (GETSs) required for the self-measurement of blood glucose by diabetic patients are designed for single use and expensive. Glucose monitoring portable electronic devices using GETSs is based on the principle of electrocatalysis. Used test strips are of considerable volume and hence require proper disposal and also recovery and recycling of the valuable metals present. In the present work, a mixture of H2O2–HCl was used for the leaching of palladium from GETSs. Effect of experimental parameters such as concentration of H2O2, HCl and waste to leachant ratio, contact time was investigated in detail to optimize the percentage extraction. The extracted palladium was supported on an amine functionalised chitosan. The supported palladium was utilized as an electrochemical sensor for nitrobenzene. Analytical techniques such as FT-IR, ICP-AES, FEG-SEM-EDS, TEM, XRD and UV-visible spectrophotometry were used for the characterization of the supported metal.