| EPSRC Reference: |
EP/C549554/1 |
| Title: |
Design and Applications of Nanoelectrode Arrays |
| Principal Investigator: |
Compton, Professor R |
| Other Investigators: |
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| Department: |
Oxford Chemistry |
| Organisation: |
University of Oxford |
| Scheme: |
Standard Research (Pre-FEC) |
| Starts: |
01 October 2005 |
Ends: |
31 October 2007 |
Value (£): |
130,307
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| EPSRC Research Topic Classifications: |
| Analytical Science |
Chemical Biology |
| Electrochemical Science & Eng. |
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Summary on Grant Application Form |
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I once saw an examination paper in biology which required the candidates to write an essay explaining 'the advantages of being big'! In electrochemistry, however, the advantages usually lies in being the smallest. The reason for this is that electrochemical processes occur only at the surface of electrodes, so an important issue is how and how quickly reactants can be transported to the site of reaction and this can impose a limitation on either what can be done or how much can be done. Curiously it is easier to transport reactants to a tiny electrode rather than a big one since material can arrive from all directions ('convergent diffusion') at the former whereas at a point on a large electrode the fact that the points nearby have already consumed a lot of material reduces this flux (to transport via 'linear diffusion')Electrochemists already routinely use electrodes of dimensions that are just one millionth of a metre is size ('microelectrodes'). We now propose to reduce this size by up to a factor of one thousand so making the fastest electrochemical processes visible and simultaneously maximising the sensitivity of electrochemical measurements. Specifically we wish to construct arrays of nanometre (one thousand millionth of a metre) sized electrodes and use these for analytical measurements, for example in the detection of toxic gases or metals such as lead in blood, where the diminished size will lead to us realising previously impossibly small limits of detection and unrivalled high levels of sensitivity.
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Key Findings |
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This information can now be found on Gateway to Research (GtR) http://gtr.rcuk.ac.uk
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Potential use in non-academic contexts |
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This information can now be found on Gateway to Research (GtR) http://gtr.rcuk.ac.uk
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Impacts |
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| Description |
This information can now be found on Gateway to Research (GtR) http://gtr.rcuk.ac.uk |
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Sectors submitted by the Researcher |
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This information can now be found on Gateway to Research (GtR) http://gtr.rcuk.ac.uk
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| Project URL: |
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| Further Information: |
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| Organisation Website: |
http://www.ox.ac.uk |