Thin-film gold electrodes produced by magnetron sputtering. Voltammetric characteristics and application in batch injection analysis with amperometric detection

Abstract

Thin-film gold electrodes were produced by radio-frequency sputtering using a polyvinyl chloride foil as substrate. The voltammetric behavior was characterized in various electrolyte solutions. In alkaline and neutral aqueous solutions reliable voltammetric measurements can be performed while in acidic media some nondefined phenomena occur. A novel type of electrode for batch injection analysis (BIA) is presented which is produced from circular pieces of the thin-film material. This electrode can be used for BIA in conventional voltammetric cells. Pulsed amperometric detection is demonstrated to be viable with thin-film gold electrodes and shows analytical advantages over constant-potential detection in the BIA of hydrogen peroxide.