Electroanalytical techniques, automation

ELECTROANALYTICAL TECHNIQUES] (Vol 9) -for fluoride pLUORINE COMPOUNDS, INORGANIC - CALCIUM (Vol 11) -inclusion compounds [INCLUSION COMPOUNDS] (Vol 14) -polyether antibiotics m [ANTIBIOTICS - POLYETHERS] (Vol 3) -as sensors [SENSORS] (Vol 21) -use of biopolymers m piOPOLYMERS - ANALYTICAL TECHNIQUES] (Vol 4) -use m clinical assays [AUTOMATED INSTRUMENTATION - CLINICAL CldEMISTRY] (Vol 3) -for water analyses m steam prdn [STEAM] (Vol 22)... 

Semm - [BLOOD, ARTIFICIAL] (Vol 4) -clinical assay of [AUTOMATED INSTRUMENTATION - CLINICALCITEMISTRY] (Vol 3) -electroanalysis of [ELECTROANALYTICAL TECHNIQUES] (Vol 9) -mineral nutrients m [MINERAL NUTRIENTS] (Vol 16)... 

Electrochemical methods of analysis have grown greatly in application and importance over the last 40 years, and this has been largely due to the development and improvement of electronic systems permitting refinements in the measurement of the critical characteristics mentioned in the foregoing. In addition to this, the measurement systems and the advanced electronics now permit much of the work in electroanalytical chemistry to be automated and controlled by microprocessors or computers. Some electroanalytical techniques have become very widely accepted others, such as polarography/voltammetry, less so. This has been due to early problems with equipment. Despite the fact... 

Although optical techniques —particularly photometry— prevailed in automatic methods of analysis for a long period, the advent of lon-selectlve electrodes (iSEs) marked the beginning of the automation of electroanalytical techniques. The variety of analysers currently available that Incorporate electro-analytical detection not only outperform those based on optical sensing (e.g. In analyses for alkali and alkaline-earth metals with ISEs as opposed to flame photometry), but also they have fostered the development of in vivo measurements, no doubt the most exciting and promising area of clinical chemistry. 

All these advantages have fostered the automation of electroanalytical techniques to such an extent that they have equalled and even excelled the success achieved by other analytical techniques. Their automation has been propitiated by the serious technical difficulties involved In some Instances (e.g. potentlometry) or imposed by the requirements of adequate performance (e.g. voltammetry). 

There may be circumstances in which an electroanalytical method, as a consequence of the additional chemicals required, has disadvantages in comparison with instrumental techniques of analysis however, the above-mentioned advantages often make electroanalysis the preferred approach for chemical control in industrial and environmental studies. Hence, in order to achieve a full understanding of what electroanalysis can do in these fields first, it will be treated more systematically in Part A second, some attention will be paid in Part B to electroanalysis in non-aqueous media in view of its growing importance and finally, the subject will be rounded off in Part C by some insight into and some examples of applications to automated chemical control. 

Research on the use of CNT-MPc based electrode in electroanalytical chemistry is still in its infancy. Without doubt, there is an enormous potential for using CNT-MPc-based electrodes for applications in areas such as environmental, industrial, food, pharmaceutical, clinical, and biomedical fields. Few studies have only been attempted with MPc complexes with Co, Fe and Ni as the central metals, meaning that there are many open doors for research on these and many other MPc complexes as redox mediators for the development of electrochemical sensors. Given the many advantages of electrochemical techniques (especially sensitivity to redox-active analytes, and amenability to automation,... 

This chapter deals with the latest developments and state of the art In the automation of electroanalytical Instrumentation as a logical reeult of the Intrinsic characteristics of each technique and the potential offered by tech-... 

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