Ruthenium/rhodium modified gold electrodes for the amperometric detection of hydrogen peroxide at low potentials

Abstract

Electrodes of ruthenium/rhodium deposited as thin layers on gold foils were investigated. Ruthenium layers were radio frequency (r.f.) magnetron sputtered and the rhodium layers were made by vacuum evaporation. Hydrogen peroxide could be detected using the cathodic reduction at potentials lower than +170 mV or the anodic oxidation at higher potentials. Under flow injection conditions, H₂O₂ was detected between 1 and 1000 µM at a potential of –100 mV and between 2 and 500 µM at a potential of +250 mV vs. Ag/AgCl/0.4 M KCl. The electrodes also showed high operational stability and selectivity against many electroactive substances. The selectivity against dissolved oxygen was investigated.