Development of a long-term stable organic membrane-based thin-film microsensor using new-type substrate surface treatment

A novel long lifetime organic membrane-based thin-film Cu(II) microsensor has been elaborated. The advantages of the suggested microsensor include: excellent stability, long lifetime, and reasonable good selectivity. The significant improvements of the lifetime (>4 months) of the organic membrane-based thin-film microsensors have been realized for the first time using new-type electrodeposition treatment of the solid-state substrate surface in combination with a new nebulization method for applying the organic membrane coating mixture on the thin-film gold substrate. The electrochemical behavior of the thin-film microsensor in terms of ionic sensitivity, limit of detection, the effect of the pH, dynamic response time, Nernstian response interval, selectivity coefficients and lifetime has been evaluated. The results are compared to those obtained with the conventional ion-selective and coated graphite rod macroelectrodes prepared with the same ionophore. The reliability of the suggested thin-film microsensor with the low cost of its microfabrication makes it promising for the miniaturized application. (c) 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.