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Screen-printed potentiometric Ag/AgCl chloride sensors: Lifetime performance and their use in soil salt measurements

Screen-printed potentiometric Ag/AgCl chloride sensors: Lifetime performance and their use in soil salt measurements
Screen-printed potentiometric Ag/AgCl chloride sensors: Lifetime performance and their use in soil salt measurements
Silver – silver chloride electrodes (Ag/AgCl) for the detection of chloride ions were fabricated using thick-film technology. Five different formulations were prepared and chloride responses were investigated over time. Almost identical and near Nernstian responses were observed over the first 162 days with an average chloride sensitivity for all formulations of -51.12 mV ± 0.45 mV per decade change in chloride concentration compared with a value of -50.59 mV ± 0.01 mV over 388 days for the best two formulations. After 6-months continuous immersion in tap water, pastes formulated with a glass binder began to exhibit a loss in sensitivity whilst those formulated from a commercial thick-film dielectric paste remained functional for the best part of a year. This difference in lifetime performance is attributed to the inclusion of proprietary additives in the commercial paste aiding adhesion and minimising AgCl leaching. The mechanical and chemical robustness of these electrodes has been demonstrated through their ability to detect changing levels of chloride when immersed in soil columns. This particular capacity will make them an invaluable tool in the fields of hydrology, agricultural science, soil science and environmental science.
Ag/AgCl, chloride sensor, thick-film sensor, soil salt measurement
0924-4247
288-294
Cranny, Andrew
2ebc2ccb-7d3e-4a6a-91ac-9f089741939e
Harris, Nick R
237cfdbd-86e4-4025-869c-c85136f14dfd
Nie, Mengyan
a8613738-d74a-40fb-8881-08069fb0a34b
Wharton, Julian A
965a38fd-d2bc-4a19-a08c-2d4e036aa96b
Wood, R.J. K
d9523d31-41a8-459a-8831-70e29ffe8a73
Stokes, K.R.
5fb4e7f7-2f7e-4e6e-a045-6d7690626695
Cranny, Andrew
2ebc2ccb-7d3e-4a6a-91ac-9f089741939e
Harris, Nick R
237cfdbd-86e4-4025-869c-c85136f14dfd
Nie, Mengyan
a8613738-d74a-40fb-8881-08069fb0a34b
Wharton, Julian A
965a38fd-d2bc-4a19-a08c-2d4e036aa96b
Wood, R.J. K
d9523d31-41a8-459a-8831-70e29ffe8a73
Stokes, K.R.
5fb4e7f7-2f7e-4e6e-a045-6d7690626695

Cranny, Andrew, Harris, Nick R, Nie, Mengyan, Wharton, Julian A, Wood, R.J. K and Stokes, K.R. (2011) Screen-printed potentiometric Ag/AgCl chloride sensors: Lifetime performance and their use in soil salt measurements. [in special issue: Selected Papers from the 5th Asia-Pacific Conference on Transducers and Micro-Nano Technology] Sensors and Actuators A: Physical, 169 (2), 288-294. (doi:10.1016/j.sna.2011.01.016).

Record type: Article

Abstract

Silver – silver chloride electrodes (Ag/AgCl) for the detection of chloride ions were fabricated using thick-film technology. Five different formulations were prepared and chloride responses were investigated over time. Almost identical and near Nernstian responses were observed over the first 162 days with an average chloride sensitivity for all formulations of -51.12 mV ± 0.45 mV per decade change in chloride concentration compared with a value of -50.59 mV ± 0.01 mV over 388 days for the best two formulations. After 6-months continuous immersion in tap water, pastes formulated with a glass binder began to exhibit a loss in sensitivity whilst those formulated from a commercial thick-film dielectric paste remained functional for the best part of a year. This difference in lifetime performance is attributed to the inclusion of proprietary additives in the commercial paste aiding adhesion and minimising AgCl leaching. The mechanical and chemical robustness of these electrodes has been demonstrated through their ability to detect changing levels of chloride when immersed in soil columns. This particular capacity will make them an invaluable tool in the fields of hydrology, agricultural science, soil science and environmental science.

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Published date: October 2011
Keywords: Ag/AgCl, chloride sensor, thick-film sensor, soil salt measurement
Organisations: EEE

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 272134
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/272134
ISSN: 0924-4247
PURE UUID: 0544b04d-7e54-4f3c-bd47-752bdb6a4753
ORCID for Nick R Harris: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0003-4122-2219
ORCID for Mengyan Nie: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0002-7758-760X
ORCID for Julian A Wharton: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0002-3439-017X
ORCID for R.J. K Wood: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0003-0681-9239

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Date deposited: 30 Mar 2011 13:53
Last modified: 15 Mar 2024 02:58

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Contributors

Author: Andrew Cranny
Author: Nick R Harris ORCID iD
Author: Mengyan Nie ORCID iD
Author: R.J. K Wood ORCID iD
Author: K.R. Stokes

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