The fabrication of stencil-printed carbon ink electrodes in the lab rather than purchasing commercially manufactured screen-printed electrodes is important because they are more cost-effective and also allow for more flexibility in electrode and experiment design. These electrodes have applications in the development of point of care and portable analytical devices. Previous work in our lab has shown that these electrodes can be used for the electrochemiluminescent detection of biogenic amines with a smartphone detector in food-safety applications. The study reported here looks to build upon this work and improve the durability and performance of stencil-printed carbon ink electrodes. We have observed that the carbon-ink electrode leads are thin and get scratched off during regular usage. To maximize the usage, we have investigated various modifications to improve the durability and performance, including fabricating thicker leads and implementing copper wires. When copper wires were used to make electrical connection, we saw an improvement in the cyclic voltametric behavior of the reduction of potassium ferricyanide and the oxidation of tris(2,2’-bipyridyl)ruthenium(II) chloride, a common luminophore in electrochemiluminescence. Work is underway to investigate the effects of different substrates, including transparencies, paper and 3D printed materials, on the electrochemistry and electrochemiluminescence generated at stencil-printed carbon electrodes.

Optimization of electrochemistry and electrochemiluminescence of stencil-printed carbon ink electrodes

ACS Spring Meeting 2021

The official archive and repository for all ACS Meetings & Expositions abstracts and select posters or presentations.