Electrochemical Detection of Surfactant-Encapsulated Aqueous Nanodroplets in Organic Solution

Abstract

We report enhanced electrochemical detection of single water-in-oil emulsion droplets using the nano-impact method. To detect the emulsion droplets, the water molecules in the droplets were directly oxidized (i.e., water splitting) without additional electroactive species when the droplets collided with the ultramicroelectrode. The water molecules in the emulsion droplet cannot be directly electrolyzed in an organic solvent because the emulsifier does not require a hydrophobic electrolyte. To enhance the signal intensity, the electrochemistry of sub-microscale single droplets was investigated considering the charge neutrality and limiting reagent. Therefore, effective electrolysis of the droplets was achieved. Approximately 10% of water molecules in the droplet (55.6 M H2O) were oxidized based on calculations from the electrochemical peak analysis and DLS measurements.

In situ detection of reactive oxygen species spontaneously generated on lead acid battery anodes: a pathway for degradation and self-discharge at open circuit

“…2B). Such transient peaks have been reported in collision electrochemistry in the case of nanoparticle or nanobubble collisions, [48][49][50][51][52][53] but not in the LAB literature, to the best of our knowledge. Such observations highlight the relevance of the SECM in situ experiment in characterizing the LAB corrosion process at OC.…”

Electrochemical Characterization of Neurotransmitters in a Single Submicron Droplet

“…Nanoscale electrode [15] Single-entity electrochemistry, a technique designed to measure the characteristics of individual particles that has rarely been studied in macro-sized electrode systems because the loading of a single particle is almost impossible, has undergone significant advancements through the use of detection methods employing the collisional contact of a single particle on UMEs [16,17]. Over the last decade, various single entities, including metal nanoparticles [18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25], biomaterials [26,27], nanobubbles [28,29], vesicles [30,31], and droplets [32][33][34][35][36][37][38][39][40], have been analyzed electrochemically at the single-entity level. The entity size can be determined by measuring the amperometric current response obtained from a single collision event [18,39].…”

Detection and Dispersion Analysis of Water Globules in Oil Samples Using Artificial Intelligence Algorithms

“…The provided instrument for the online detection of water droplets via size and water content in crude oil emulsions in a pressurized pipeline has shown potential for real-world applications [ 10 ]. In addition, many studies have considered the detection of water droplets in solutions [ 11 ] and the separation of oil and water [ 12 ] using the electrochemical method [ 11 ], 2D materials [ 13 ], and electrospinning membranes [ 14 ]. The sizes and shapes of the particles affect the quality of the product.…”