ELECTROCHEMISTRY is situated in between the field of electricity and chemistry investigating the reactions occurring at the interface of the electrode (with and without adsorbed particles) and the solution (Pletcher et al. 2001). These reactions involve electron transfer between the electrode and the electrolyte or species in solution. Reactions in which a change in oxidation state takes place are so-called redox reactions. Redox reactions might be induced by environmental, chemical, physical phenomena or externally driven by voltage or current.
Within the diversified topic of electrochemistry, the AXES group is focusing on the following subjects:
- Protein electrochemistry
- Organic electrochemistry
- Electrochemical aptasensor development
ELECTROCHEMICAL (BIO)SENSORS are very attractive for monitoring the presence of pollutants as these devices are fast, portable, extremely sensitive and selective towards redox active species, especially when a bio-recognition element is integrated onto the electrode. Such so-called electrochemical biosensors consist of a sensitive biological recognition material targeting an analyte of interest and a transduction element for converting the recognition process into an electrochemical (amperometric, potentiometric, conductometric, impedimetric) signal. A glucose sensor is a well-known example of an electrochemical sensor.
