A Miniaturized Carbon Black-based Electrochemical Sensor for Chlorine Dioxide Detection in Swimming Pool Water

The recent trend of using sustainable disinfectants in water treatment sector boosted the employment of chlorine dioxide (ClO2) as green disinfectant. Indeed, this disinfectant is characterised by several attractive features such as the working capability in a wide range of pH and the absence of harmful by-products. These characteristics confer to chlorine dioxide a prominent position between the disinfectants, thus analytical tools for on-site detection are needed to customize the water treatment. Herein, we described the development of an innovative and cost-effective carbon black modified screen-printed electrode for amperometric quantification of chlorine dioxide in standard solution and in swimming pool water. The carbon black as working electrode nanomodifier allowed for the detection of chlorine dioxide at low applied potential, with linear range of 0.05-20 ppm, and a detection limit of 0.01 ppm. The matrix effect evaluation as well as the recovery study demonstrated the capability of this sensor for a cost-effective detection of chlorine dioxide in swimming pool water, paving the way for the use of miniaturised electrochemical sensors in water treatment field.