The presence of high levels of arsenic in waters poses a threat to the human health in many countries all over the world. Effective surveillance programs of water quality require the implementation of in-field tests to assess early the presence of this metal ion and other contaminants. To date, there exist few market-available analytical approaches that suffer from important limitations related to cost, in addition to complex reactions, very long analysis times, and/or high limits of detection. This work describes a robust electrochemical sensor integrated into a modular microfluidic system that shows a clear potential to be deployed for the on-site monitoring of inorganic As(III) species. Flexible and transparent microfluidic modules are fabricated by rapid prototyping techniques and include different microfluidic components among them, flow cells where electrochemical sensors can be easily and reversibly inserted. The electrochemical sensor comprises a gold nanoparticle (AuNP)-modified gold thin-film electrode that is readily applied to the sensitive detection of As(III) by anodic stripping linear sweep voltammetry. The microfluidic system enables the automatic sensor calibration, sample uptake, and preconditioning as well as As(III) detection. The system response to As(III) is linear in a concentration range of 1-150 μg L-1, with a detection limit of 0.42 μg L-1, which is well below the threshold value of 10 μg L-1 set by the World Health Organization. Analysis of tap water and two water samples from two Argentinean aquifers, spiked with different As(III) concentrations, demonstrates the excellent performance of the system.
Keywords: As(III) analysis; electrochemical sensor; gold nanoparticles; modular microfluidic device; surface waters.