Designing and fabricating novel screen printed electrochemical configurations

Metters, Jonathan Peter (2013) Designing and fabricating novel screen printed electrochemical configurations. Doctoral thesis (PhD), Manchester Metropolitan University.

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Abstract

This thesis reports the design and fabrication of novel never before reported screen printed electrochemical devices. Chapters 1 and 2 of this thesis give an overview of the relevant fundamental electrochemical concepts with which this thesis is concerned. Additionally Chapter 2 focuses on the technique of screen printing upon which this thesis is focused on with a detailed overview not only of the screen printing process, but also its current prevalence within the field of electrochemistry with particular attention paid towards the development of novel screen printed electrode configurations. Chapter 3 reports modified electrodes presenting the first examples of noble metal and carbon nanotube modified screen printed electrodes which are evaluated and benchmarked towards target analytes and the current literature. Again, simplification of analytical protocols is sought through the production of screen printed sensors using screen printing technology rather than alternative techniques such as drop-coating and electroplating. The final part of this thesis explores electrode geometry and substrate composition (described in Chapters 4 and 5) in order to impart improvements and greater understanding in the mass transport characteristics in order to lead to significant improvement in the electroanalytical sensing features of the devised sensors. In the case of substrate composition the role of the underlying substrate, a fundamental component concerning screen printing is explored with different potential substrate materials being trialled and compared to the commonly utilised polyester substrate with regards to the effects of mechanical force upon the electrochemical performance of the sensors.