Development of a portable total nitrogen detection system based on microelectrodes

This article presents a portable total nitrogen detection system based on microelectrode chip. The microelectrode chip, integrated with a working electrode modified with copper and a counter electrode, was fabricated by microelectromechanical systems technology and was used to detect the concentration of nitrate after total nitrogen digestion. MSP430F4793 microcontroller was applied in this portable system to realize multifunction such as electrochemical modification of the working electrode, detection of the current response, storage of the detection results, calibration, and communication. Water samples from a lake were detected by this developed system, an electrochemical analyzer, and a commercial total nitrogen monitoring system at the same time. Correlation coefficients of 92.9% and 98.15% were shown by the developed system with the electrochemical analyzer and the commercial total nitrogen monitoring system, respectively. Compared with the traditional analyzer system, this portable detection system has the advantages of miniaturization, low cost, and low power consumption. © IMechE 2013.