Digital versatile disc bipolar electrode: A fast and low-cost approach for visual sensing of analytes and electrocatalysts screening

•DVD-R is used to create low-cost bipolar electrodes.•H2O2 and benzoquinone are detected as model targets to prove sensing applications of DVD BPEs.•HER activity of catalysts are compared to prove screening applications of DVD BPEs.

This work represents a new, extremely low cost and easy method for fabrication of bipolar electrode (BPE) for rapid and simultaneous screening of potential candidates for electrocatalytic reactions and sensing applications. Our method takes advantage of the silver reflective layer deposited on already available recordable digital versatile disc (DVD-R) polycarbonate substrate which acts as BPE. Oxidation of the reflective layer of the DVD-R in anodic pole of the BPE results in a permanent and visually measurable dissolute length. Therefore, one could correlate the electrocatalytic activity of the catalyst at the cathodic pole of the BPE, as well as the concentration of analyte in the solution, to the dissolution length of the BPE. To illustrate the promising applications of this new substrate as BPE, p-benzoquinone (BQ) and hydrogen peroxide were tested as model targets for the sensing application. Moreover, in order to show the feasibility of using DVD BPEs for screening applications, the electrocatalytic activity of Pt, Pd, Au, and pristine DVD substrate toward hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) were compared using an array of BPEs prepared on DVD substrate.

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