Electrochemical reactivity at redox-molecule-based nanoelectrode ensembles

A model describing electrochemical reactivity at nanoelectrode ensembles consisting of redox-molecule-based active sites immobilized on otherwise passivated electrode surfaces is presented. A mathematical treatment in terms of hemispherical diffusion of redox-active solutes to a layer of independent molecule-based nanoelectrode sites is shown to be equivalent to one in terms of a bimolecular diffusion-limited reaction between a layer of immobilized redox molecules and a reservoir of redox-active solutes. This equivalence derives from the fact that in both cases the mass-transfer problem is essentially that of hemispherical diffusion. The model is further developed to consider rate limitation by both the bimolecular redox reaction between the active-site molecule and redox molecules in solution and the heterogeneous redox reaction between the electrode and the active-site molecule. Analytical expressions are derived for the current-voltage relation corresponding to catalyzed electron transfer at an ensemble of redox-molecule-based nanoelectrode sites, and the expressions are used to interpret preliminary data for ultrasensitive electrochemical detection in how streams via an electrochemical amplification process that is thought to involve redox mediation by individual analyte molecules adsorbed onto monolayer-coated electrodes. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.