Experts have created a new way to develop iridium oxide nanosensors that are more sensitive and are therefore able to detect pH changes in nanoscale technology.

Researchers from the University of Bourgogne in France, in conjunction with the country's Lafarge Research Centre, etched an iridium wire in a salt solution before giving the tip a poly-p-xylylene coating, American Chemical Society reports.

An opening of 100 nanometres was made in the coating using a focused gallium ion beam. Air oxidation caused by the opening then resulted in the creation of the nanosensor.

This new technology allows researchers to more effectively measure pH levels in nanoscale environments, particularly in phases of cement or specific living cells.

Iridium oxide had long been considered as having the potential to be used to measure pH, but in the past the protective coatings developed on the tips of iridium oxide nanosensors has made them insensitive to pH.

Source:

An iridium oxide sensor stalks pH variations in the nanoworld, 15/10/07
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