Electrochemical, spectrophotometric, electroanalytical and electrochemical quartz crystal microbalance studies of some redox-active films

Redox films are a broad class of electrochemically active films with many potential uses. In the present work, Prussian Blue and carbon coated electrodes have been investigated as possible electrochemical sensors for ascorbic acid and pH, respectively. The potential of Prussian Blue as an optical sensor has also been investigated. In the case of Prussian Blue, it has been discovered that up to 100 monolayers can be systematically deposited on gold electrodes by a new technique that we have called "directed assembly". This provides control of layer thickness with nanometer precision. In the case of carbon coated electrodes, we have developed a mechanical coating technique for quartz crystals, which allows them to be used in electrochemical cells, simultaneously as working electrodes and as mass sensors in a quartz crystal microbalance. This opens up the possibility of developing a variety of new sensor technologies, including pH-sensitive microelectrodes.