Electrochemical detection reference electrodes

Electrochemical Detectors Another common group of HPLC detectors are those based on electrochemical measurements such as amperometry, voltammetry, coulometry, and conductivity. Figure 12.29b, for example, shows an amperometric flow cell. Effluent from the column passes over the working electrode, which is held at a potential favorable for oxidizing or reducing the analytes. The potential is held constant relative to a downstream reference electrode, and the current flowing between the working and auxiliary electrodes is measured. Detection limits for amperometric electrochemical detection are 10 pg-1 ng of injected analyte. 

In general, low level detection is masked by the noise level inherent in any measuring device. Electrochemical methods are susceptible to electrical interference from external sources, variations in reference electrode parameters resulting from aging or contamination, and interference from redox... 

Indicator electrodes are used both for analytical purposes (in determining the concentrations of different substances from values of the open-circuit potential or from characteristic features of the polarization curves) and for the detection and quantitative characterization of various phenomena and processes (as electrochemical sensors or signal transducers). One variety of indicator electrode are the reference electrodes, which have stable and reproducible values of potential and thus can be used to measure the potentials of other electrodes. 

The microcoulometer detector can be used to detect the sane active species (e.g., SOj, HjS, HCl and NH3) as the HECD [216-218]. It employs a four electrode electrochemical cell two for generating the active species, one for sensing, and one as a reference electrode. A low concentration of a chemically active... 

Figure 1 Electrochemical detection of catechol, acetaminophen, and 4-methyl catechol, demonstrating the selectivity of differential pulse detection vs. constant potential detection. (A) Catechol, (B) acetaminophen, and (C) 4-methylcatechol were separated by reversed phase liquid chromatography and detected by amperometry on a carbon fiber electrode. In the upper trace, a constant potential of +0.6 V was used. In the lower trace, a base potential of +425 mV and a pulse amplitude of +50 mV were used. An Ag/AgCl reference electrode was employed. Note that acetaminophen responds much more strongly than catechol or 4-methylcatechol under the differential pulse conditions, allowing highly selective detection. (Reproduced with permission from St. Claire, III, R. L. and Jorgenson, J. W., J. Chromatogr. Sci. 23, 186, 1985. Preston Publications, A Division of Preston Industries, Inc.)...

Figure 2 Selective electrochemical detection of a mixture on multielectrode amper-ometry. AA = Ascorbic acid, NE = norepinephrine, DOPAC = 3-4-dihydroxy-phenylacetic acid, E = epinephrine bitartrate, 5-HIAA = 5-hydroxyindole-3-acetic acid, HVA = homovanillic acid, TRP = tryptophan, 5-HT = 5-hydroxytryptamine, and 3-MT = 3-methoxytyramine (separated by RPLC). Detection was with a 4-electrode glassy carbon array, with electrode 1 at 500 m V) electrode 2 at 700 mV, electrode 3 at 900 mV, and electrode 4 at 1100 mV. Note that at electrode 1, HVA, TRP, and 3-MT are not seen. At electrode 2, only TRP is not seen. A standard calomel electrode was used as reference. (Reprinted with permission from Hoogvliet, J. C., Reijn, J. M., and van Bennekom, W. P., Anal. Chem., 63, 2418, 1991. 1991 Analytical Chemistry.)...

Phase-sensitive detection is not at all specihc for EPR spectroscopy but is used in many different types of experiments. Some readers may be familiar with the electrochemical technique of differential-pulse voltammetry. Here, the potential over the working and reference electrode, E, is varied slowly enough to be considered as essentially static on a short time scale. The disturbance is a pulse of small potential difference, AE, and the in-phase, in-frequency detection of the current affords a very low noise differential of the i-E characteristic of a redox couple. 

The electrochemical detection of pH can be carried out by voltammetry (amper-ometry) or potentiometry. Voltammetry is the measurement of the current potential relationship in an electrochemical cell. In voltammetry, the potential is applied to the electrochemical cell to force electrochemical reactions at the electrode-electrolyte interface. In potentiometry, the potential is measured between a pH electrode and a reference electrode of an electrochemical cell in response to the activity of an electrolyte in a solution under the condition of zero current. Since no current passes through the cell while the potential is measured, potentiometry is an equilibrium method. 

Electrochemical oxidation-reduction of eluting mixture components is the basis for amperometric electrochemical detectors. The three electrodes needed for the detection, the working (indicator) electrode, reference electrode, and auxiliary electrode, are either inserted into the flow stream or imbedded in the wall of the flow stream. See Figure 13.13. The indicator electrode is typically glassy carbon, platinum, or gold, the reference electrode a silver-silver chloride electrode, and the auxiliary a stainless steel electrode. Most often, the indicator electrode is polarized to cause oxidation of the mixture components... 

Two types of cell have been described. In Fig. 1 a cell with a rotating disk electrode is shown. Connections to a pH-stat and to the interface are indicated simultaneously with recording CMT measurements, the metal and reference electrode and a counter electrode (not shown in Fig. 1) can be connected to a potentiostat, so that electrochemical measurements can be recorded intermittently. The volume of solution in the cell is ca. 400 ml. What matters for safe and reliable conditions of measurement is that the disk electrode rotating at a speed of no less than 1000 rpm ensures efficient stirring, so that the effect of alkali formed at the corroding metal (or sometimes at the counter electrode located ca. 1 cm below and parallel to the metal electrode) is immediately sensed effectively by the glass electrode and also the effect of acid supplied from the autoburet is quickly detected. 

Two analytical methods for priority pollutants specified by the USEPA (38) use HPLC separation and fluorescence or electrochemical detection. Method 605, 40 CFR Part 136, determines benzidine and 3,3-dichlorobenzidine by amperometric detection at +0.80 V, versus a silver/silver chloride reference electrode, at a glassy carbon electrode. Separation is achieved with a 1 1 (v/v) mixture of acetonitrile and a pH 4.7 acetate buffer (1 M) under isocratic conditions on an ethyl-bonded reversed-phase column. Lower limits of detection are reported to be 0.05 /xg/L for benzidine and 0.1 /xg/L for 3,3-dichlorobenzidine. Method 610, 40 CFR Part 136, determines 16 PAHs by either GC or HPLC. The HPLC method is required when all 16 PAHs need to be individually determined. The GC method, which uses a packed column, cannot adequately individually resolve all 16 PAHs. The method specifies gradient elution of the PAHs from a reversed-phase analytical column and fluorescence detection with an excitation wavelength of 280 nm and an emission wavelength of 389 nm for all but three PAHs naphthalene, acenaphthylene, and acenaphthene. As a result of weak fluorescence, these three PAHs are detected with greater sensitivity by UV-absorption detection at 254 nm. Thus, the method requires that fluores-... 

CE buffer reservoirs B, separation capillary C, detection capillary D, eluting buffer droplets. (B) Top view of the porous glass and electrochemical cell. A, column B, porous glass coupler C, Plexiglas block D, carbon fiber working electrode E, microscope slide F, micromanipulator G, reference electrode port. [Reproduced with permission from Ref. 48.]... 

Figure 27.20 Schematic drawing of CE with end-column amperometric detection A, capillary B, cathodic buffer reservoir and electrochemical cell C, carbon fiber electrode D, electrode assembly, E, micromanipulator RE, reference electrode. [Adapted with permission from Ref. 49.]...

Many published articles on HPLC-ECD refer to the use of one of three voltammetric detectors (amperometric, coulometric, or polarographic). More detailed information on principles and techniques of various electrochemical detection modes can be obtained from the recent book, Coulometric Electrode Array Detectors for HPLC (34). There are also two electrode array detectors, the coulometric electrode array system and the CoulArray detector, currently available. Both detectors offer the qualitative data of PDA and the extreme sensitivity of ECD (34). The... 

The vertical axis is in volts relative to the saturated calomel reference electrode (SCE). Photoemission in aqueous media is best performed in the electrochemical window, between the hydrogen and oxygen evolution redox potentials, where small dc currents allow easier detection of the photoemission current. Protons are used for scavenging the... 

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