Development of Boron-Doped Diamond Electrodes for Key Analytes in the Aqueous Environment and Beyond.

Dissolved oxygen, pH, and heavy metals are important environmental indicators in the measurement of environmental water and drinking water quality, and their rapid and accurate measurement is indispensable. However, conventional sensors have problems with measurement time and durability. To address these issues, Dr. Read developed a sensor that can simultaneously measure dissolved oxygen concentration and pH, and a sensor that can measure heavy metals while controlling the local pH using a Boron Doped Diamond (BDD*1) electrode. Through laser processing of a controlled portion of the BDD electrode surface, she succeeded in developing a robust sensor that can rapidly measure dissolved oxygen concentration and pH simultaneously. Additionally, by developing a ring-disk electrode with a ring-type BDD electrode placed around the disk-type BDD electrode, she succeeded in measuring heavy metals while quantitatively controlling the local pH of the disk electrode by the flux of hydrogen ions generated by the electrolysis of water on the ring electrode surface. This eliminates the need for sample pretreatment required by conventional sensors and enables rapid and accurate real-time monitoring. These technologies can contribute to analysis in a wide range of fields beyond the environment, including the medical field.