Environmental Monitoring by Eco-Friendly-Fabricated Carbon-Modified Electrode Sensors

Environmental monitoring is necessary to understand and evaluate the extent of pollution and eco-system disturbances and to work out remedial strategies. Electrochemical methods are attractive for environmental monitoring due to their capability for remote and in situ applications. The electrode-based sensors are prone to fine-tuning and modification to improve the selectivity and sensitivity for trace analystes detection. Different types of modifiers have been applied which include hydroxyapatite, montmorillonite, ionic liquids, chitosan, bismuth and plant-based materials and their composites with graphites can be optimized utilizing cyclic and square-wave voltammetric techniques. These may have wide appeal in the analyses and detection of heavy metal ions, pharmaceuticals or biomolecules, airborne particulate matter, fly ash, rocks, minerals and sediments. Screen-printed electrodes especially enable portable systems for real-time, non-invasive analysis of a sample. The fabrication into microelectrodes and the preparation in machine-controlled manufacturing make screen-printed electrode more versatile for mass production at low costs. The small dimensions, and planar configuration with lab-on-chip, point-ofcare applications are attractive features for the future development of eco-friendlybased sensors for multi-dimensional utilities.