Characterisation of commercially available electrochemical sensing platforms

Disposable screen-printed electrodes are routinely used for sensitive electro-analytical sensing but their reactivity and performance can greatly vary. In this paper we have electrochemically interrogated and characterised a range of commercially available screen-printed electrodes from Zensor. Dropsens and Kanichi with scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). Differing electrochemical reactivities are observed with the optimal electrochemical performance observed for Dropsens and certain Kanichi electrochemical platforms with the greatest reproducibility (relative standard deviation, %R.S.D.) observed with the electrodes from Kanichi. The effect of temperature and potential cycling the screen-printed electrochemical platforms is also explored. This report allows researchers to make informed decisions in sensor selection, design and development. (C) 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.