Thin film reference electrodes for aqueous and organic media

The integration of reference electrodes into electrochemical (sensoric) systems is essential for the stabilization of the potentials and for the determination of reproducible potentials. For many micro-sensoric applications the ‘classical’ reference electrodes that are based on Ag/AgCl or Hg/Hg2Cl2 do not perform. In this work, reference electrodes based on six alternative metals (Pb, Zn, Sn, Fe, Bi, and Cu) were tested alone or in combination with their respective, sparingly soluble salts (forming systems of the second kind). The performance and the stability in aqueous and non-aqueous model systems were investigated. For all systems, at least one suitable reference electrode system could be identified. These systems were implemented in micro-electrode setups; excellent performances were demonstrated with two biochemically relevant redox-systems, vitamin C and vitamin K3.