New procedures to obtain electrochemical sensors for heavy metal detection

This paper reviews the use of new technologies to microfabricate electrochemical sensors for the detection of heavy metals. Heavy metals are very toxic environmental pollutants, thus the knowledge of their real content in various matrices is very important. Over the last few years, decentralized monitoring equipment for heavy metal detection, that could be operated by unskilled personnel, has been more and more requested. Thick and thin film electrochemical sensors are interesting devices for in field analysis because they can be miniaturised, are simple to operate and are reliable; they can be mass-produced and thus used as disposable device. The coupling of these devices with stripping techniques allows the realisation of a portable system for heavy metal monitoring. We have reviewed the literature on this topic of the last decade.