Abstract
The detection of volatile organic compounds with electrochemical gas sensors is still very challenging regarding their sensitivity, selectivity, and operation at room temperature. There is a need for robust, sensitive, inexpensive, and yet easy-to-operate sensors for phenol and other phenolic compounds that function reliably under ambient conditions. Herein, we present a phenol gas sensor based on a combination of a semisolid, alkaline sodium polyacrylate, and commercial screen-printed electrodes. Sodium polyacrylate was employed as a multifunctional sensing material serving as a (i) gel-like electrolyte, (ii) accumulation milieu, and (iii) derivatization medium. Under ambient conditions, the sensor showed excellent sensitivity in the low ppbv (μg m–3) range, a good linear operation in the examined concentration range of 0.1–1.0 ppmv for up to 105 min accumulation, and low sensitivity toward examined interferences. The sensor also indicated a possibility to differentiate between several phenolic compounds based on their oxidation potential. Given its favorable electroanalytical performance, a strong application potential is envisioned in topical fields such as environmental monitoring, cultural heritage preservation, and occupational health and safety.
Highlights
The detection of volatile organic compounds with electrochemical gas sensors is still very challenging regarding their sensitivity, selectivity, and operation at room temperature
Phenol is a degradation product of phenolic additives in plastic and rubber cultural heritage objects and an early indicator of their deterioration in museum collections.[3]. These reasons necessitate the development of reliable, sensitive, and portable phenol sensors capable of on-site detection in real time or near-real time, in the fields associated with the environment, occupational health and safety, and cultural heritage preservation
Phenol and other phenolic compounds are typically detected with techniques such as gas chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry[4,5] and/or solid-phase microextraction,[6,7] various spectroscopic techniques, and electrochemical sensing approaches
Summary
The detection of volatile organic compounds with electrochemical gas sensors is still very challenging regarding their sensitivity, selectivity, and operation at room temperature. We demonstrate a novel, simple voltammetric sensor based on sodium polyacrylate as an alkaline, semisolid, gel-like material enabling the accumulation of gaseous phenol, its deprotonation, and electrochemical oxidation into p-benzoquinone.[33] The sensor is functional under ambient conditions and susceptible to few interferences.
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