Anionic clay modified electrode for detection of alcohols. An electrocatalytic amperometric sensor

The mechanism of the electrocatalytic oxidation towards a wide series of alcohols, by an electrode covered with the [Ni/Al-Cl] hydrotalcyte-like clay, has been analyzed in the different steps it consists of. Such a clay has been reported to be electrically conductive via a mechanism that shows similarities with that of the redox polymers. The overall process occurs in quite a complicated physical system that is completely different both from a classical electrode-solution one and from an electrode covered with a film of heterogeneous catalyst. By varying the characteristics of the substrate, in terms of steric hindrance and dipole moment of the molecule, the factors affecting the redox mediator-substrate reaction have been studied. The concentration ranges where the amperometric response varies linearly have been determined for the different substrates considered