Chemical oxygen demand (COD) indicates
the relative content
of
organics in water. The electrochemical measurement of COD is a promising
ecofriendly alternative method for rapidly, automatically, and highly
accurately determining the content of organics in water. However,
the key anodes must possess high catalytic efficiency and long-term
stability, be easy to prepare, and be free of heavy metal leaching.
Therefore, in this study, a SnO2–Sb-based porous
anode was prepared using simple coating and calcination. Because of
its porous, conductive, and robust Ti felt/Pt (TF/Pt) substrate, the
anode (TF/Pt/SnO2–Sb) possessed stable current responses
that were highly correlated (R
2 = 0.999)
with COD measurements in the range of 20–6000 mg L–1. The detection limit was 3.03 mg L–1 (at a signal-to-noise
ratio of 3), and the relative standard deviation was within 3.2% (n = 10), which is superior to those of the standard dichromate
detection method. The further assembly of a flow-through system with
the proposed anode exhibited a wider linear range of up to 8000 mg
L–1 at a lower sample injection volume of 50 μL.
These results suggest the application potential of the electrochemical
method with the porous TF/Pt/SnO2–Sb anode as a
reliable alternative for sustainable COD determination.