Electrochemical detection of aluminium using single-use sensors

An electrochemical method for the direct detection of aluminium using single-use sensors is described. The sensor consists of three electrodes (working, auxilliary and pseudo-reference) screen-printed with carbon ink. Aluminium is accumulated at the carbon electrode at -1.6 V (vs. pseudo-reference) in zinc sulfate electrolyte for 90 s prior to anodic stripping using differential-pulse voltammetry. Linear calibrations were obtained between 10 and 450 ppb using the aluminium oxidation peak. The limit of detection was 8 ppb Al3+.