Bio-Inspired Finger like Cu-Electrodes as an Effective Sensing Tool for Heavy Metal Ion in Aqueous Solution

Nanoparticle mediated sensing of heavy metal ions has been widely implemented. With passage of time, more sophistication assisted by enhanced sensing performance is rapidly emerging. However, the toxicity of nanoparticles poses a major hindrance that makes them hazardous in the long run. In order to tackle this, the functionalization of waveguide through selective elements is preferably reckoned. In such cases, the microwave sensor can be considered as one of the best implementations. In this work, we report the quantitative assessment of heavy ion contamination; i.e., lead ion in particular in aqueous solution through adoption of microwave sensor. With a linearity of similar to 0.97, the scheme exhibits selectivity towards lead as well as a remarkable limit of detection. The nterdigitated electrodes of the microwave sensor have been impregnated exclusively with a biomaterial composite; thereby avoiding nanoparticle mediation as found in many schemes. It is envisioned that this non-toxic approach will be useful as a safe and cost-effective method towards detection of heavy metal ions when functionalized by suitable species. (C) 2020 The Electrochemical Society ("ECS"). Published on behalf of ECS by IOP Publishing Limited.