Electrochemical sensor with a solid electrolyte for measuring the gas concentration
AssigneeMST Micro-Sensor-Technologie GmbH
InventorElena J. Nikolskaja
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
The invention relates to an electrochemical sensor to determine the concentration of a gas to be quantified, comprising a housing, a measuring electrode comprising a catalystically active material which causes a reaction of the gas to be quantified, a counterelectrode comprising a carbon material, and a solid electrolyte in contact with the measuring electrode and the counterelectrode, wherein the solid electrolyte is prepared by swelling a solid matrix comprising an acrylate polymer with an electrolytic solution comprising at least one acid, and wherein the carbon material in the counterelectrode has a specific surface of at least 40 m.sup.2 /g and comprises reversibly oxidizable or reducible electrochemically active surface compounds.
Claims18
An electrochemical sensor to determine a gas concentration of a gas to be quantified, comprising a housing, a measuring electrode located within the housing and comprising a catalytically active material which causes a reaction of the gas to be quantified, a counterelectrode located within the housing and comprising a carbon material and a solid electrolyte which is in contact with the measuring electrode and the counterelectrode, wherein the solid electrolyte is prepared by swelling a solid matrix comprising a polymer with an electrolytic solution comprising at least one acid, wherein the polymer is an acrylate polymer or methylacrylate polymer,
- wherein the carbon material in the counterelectrode has a specific surface of at least 40 m.sup.2 /g and comprises reversibly oxidizable or reducible electrochemically active surface compounds.
A method for quantifying at least one gas, comprising:
- providing an electrochemical sensor comprising a housing, a measuring electrode located within the housing and comprising a catalytically active material which causes a reaction of the gas to be quantified, a counterelectrode located within the housing and comprising a carbon material and a solid electrolyte which is in contact with the measuring electrode and the counterelectrode, wherein the solid electrolyte is prepared by swelling a solid matrix comprising an acrylate polymer or methylacrylate polymer with an electrolytic solution comprising at least one acid, wherein the carbon material in the counterelectrode has a specific surface of at least 40 m.sup.2 /g and comprises reversibly oxidizable or reducible electrochemically active surface compounds;
- setting an external voltage across the measuring electrode and the counterelectrode;
- exposing the electrochemical sensor to the at least one gas to be quantified to produce a current;
- and
- measuring the current flowing between the measuring electrode and the counterelectrode to quantify the at least one gas to be quantified.
A solid electrolyte for use in an electrochemical sensor, comprising the reaction product of a polymer swelled with an electrolytic solution comprising at least one acid, wherein the polymer is an acrylate polymer or methacrylate polymer, wherein the electrolyte is prepared by swelling the polymer in the electrolytic solution, wherein the at least one acid is at least one member selected from the group consisting of sulfuric acid, trifluoromethane-sulfonic acid and phosphoric acid.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.