Graphene Pseudoreference Electrode for the Development of a Practical Paper-Based Electrochemical Heavy Metal Sensor

Prasongporn Ruengpirasiri; Pimchanok Charoensin; Akkrawat Aniwattapong; Pemika Natekuekool; Chawin Srisomwat; Chanika Pinyorospathum; Sudkate Chaiyo; Abdulhadee Yakoh

doi:10.1021/acsomega.3c08249

Graphene Pseudoreference Electrode for the Development of a Practical Paper-Based Electrochemical Heavy Metal Sensor

ACS Omega. 2023 Dec 20;9(1):1634-1642. doi: 10.1021/acsomega.3c08249. eCollection 2024 Jan 9.

Authors

Prasongporn Ruengpirasiri¹, Pimchanok Charoensin¹, Akkrawat Aniwattapong¹, Pemika Natekuekool¹, Chawin Srisomwat², Chanika Pinyorospathum^{3

4}, Sudkate Chaiyo^{5

6}, Abdulhadee Yakoh^{5

6}

Affiliations

¹ Kamnoetvidya Science Academy, 999 Moo. 1, Payupnai, Wangchan, Rayong 21210, Thailand.
² Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science and Technology, Thammasat University, Pathumthani 12121, Thailand.
³ National Laboratory Animal Center, Mahidol University, Nakhon Pathom 73170, Thailand.
⁴ Analytical Sciences and National Doping Test Institute, Mahidol University, Bangkok 10400, Thailand.
⁵ The Institute of Biotechnology and Genetic Engineering, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok 10330, Thailand.
⁶ Center of Excellence for Food and Water Risk Analysis (FAWRA), Department of Veterinary Public Health, Faculty of Veterinary Science, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok 10330, Thailand.

Abstract

Paper-based electrochemical devices (PEDs) have emerged as versatile platforms that bridge analytical chemistry and materials science, demonstrating advantages of portability, cost-effectiveness, and environmental sustainability. This study investigates the integration of a graphene pseudoreference electrode (GPRE) into a PED, and it exhibits potential advantages over the traditional Ag/AgCl pseudoreference electrode (PRE). In addition, the electrochemical properties and stability of GPRE are compared with those of the traditional Ag/AgCl PRE. The results demonstrate that GPRE exhibits a stable and reproducible potential during electrochemical measurement throughout 180 days, demonstrating its suitability as an alternative to an expensive metal PRE. Furthermore, a GPRE-incorporated paper-based device is designed and evaluated for use in the electrochemical detection of cadmium (Cd) and lead (Pb) using an in situ bismuth-modified electrode. The GPRE-incorporated PED exhibited good analytical performance, with a low limit of detection of 0.69 and 5.77 ng mL^-1 and electrochemical sensitivities of 70.16 and 38.34 μA·mL·μg^-¹·cm^-2 for Cd(II) and Pb(II), respectively. More than 99.9% accuracy of the sensor was obtained for both ions with respect to conventional inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry. The results highlight the effectiveness and suitability of the GPRE-incorporated PED as a sensor for various applications, such as environmental monitoring, food quality control, and medical diagnostics.