Environmental footprint of voltammetric sensors based on screen-printed electrodes: An assessment towards “green” sensor manufacturing

Recent Advances in Electrochemical Sensing Strategies for Food Allergen Detection

“…The environmental impact of substrate materials and of the electrode materials must be analyzed. As already reported in the literature [ 183 ], paper, glass, and ceramics are the best options to reduce the SPEs footprint as substrate materials, while, considering the electrode materials, the substitution of noble metals with carbon-based materials reduced the corresponding environmental impact. It must be underlined that most of the biosensors mentioned in this review employed carbon-based SPEs, involving graphite, CNTs, or graphene as the carbon material.…”

Electrochemical and physicochemical degradability evaluation of printed flexible carbon electrodes in seawater

“…With increasing usage and integration of sensors, it is desirable to have materials that are biodegradable and/ or more sustainable to reduce the environmental impact, especially for single-use or disposable sensors. The use of non-degradable plastics and metals heavily impact the life cycle assessment of the electrode [6]. However, substitution of key components in printed electronics can negatively affect the electrode performance and stability, due to poor paste adhesion to the substrate and unexpected chemical reactions with the conductive electrode patch.…”

“…Common sustainable substrate materials, such as paper, cotton, and jute, either dissolve too quickly or have a high water intake, making its integration in water difficult [7][8][9]. Furthermore, the investigation of potentially sustainable materials for the conductive pathway often does not account for other chemicals used in ink and paste preparation [6,10]. Other parts of sensor fabrication, such as the sensor disposability and the influence on the electrochemical measurements after integration of new conductive path/substrate materials, are often not investigated.…”

“…The metal of choice, in such cases, is silver, as it is highly conductive and affordable. Although more abundant and less harmful when compared to other precious metals, silver is not a long-term viable option as it still exhibits a high environmental impact [6]. Besides, silver is known to react with halides to form new components, and this has been thoroughly studied in literature in the form of chloride, iodine, and bromide sensors [14][15][16].…”

“…In another work, heat treatment was carried out to increase the conductivity by controlling the variation of the filter/matrix interaction and crystallisation of the carbon composite during the annealing [24]. Carbon electrodes also present the opportunity for a more environmentally friendly approach due to its higher biocompatibility and sustainability when compared to metal electrodes [6]. Although caution is needed when considering other materials that compose the pastes, such as the binders and the solvents, as they can be harmful to humans and/or the environment [5].…”