An amperometric ethanol sensor based on foam nickel electrode

An amperometric sensor using foam nickel electrode as the working electrode for the measurement of ethanol in alkaline solution has been developed. Cyclic voltammetry and chronoamperometry are employed to analyze electrochemical behavior of the electrode. The results show that the oxidation of ethanol is more efficient on the foam nickel electrode than that on the nickel foil electrode. The sensor exhibits a good linear relationship between response current and ethanol concentration in the range of 4 to 1400 ppm with a detection limit of 0.8 ppm. The sensitivity and the response time of the sensor are 4.63 μA/ppm and 10 s respectively. Additionally, the sensor has 60 days shelf-life time at least.