The use of amalgam electrodes for monitoring of organic compounds: overview of papers published from 2011 to 2023
Abstract
This article provides an overview of the use of various types of amalgam electrodes for monitoring of organic compounds described in papers published since 2011. Amalgam electrodes are a popular alternative to toxic liquid mercury electrodes in electroanalytical chemistry.
These electrodes are made by forming an amalgam between metal and liquid mercury, and offer many advantages, e.g., a wide range of potential windows, low background currents, high sensitivity, and easily surface renewal. This article discusses the different types of amalgam electrodes, including metal solid amalgam electrodes, paste amalgam electrodes, and modifications of amalgam electrodes.
The focus is on the use of these electrodes for the determination of organic compounds in environmental, pharmaceutical, food, beverage, and biomedical matrices. The evaluated studies demonstrated that metal solid amalgam electrodes are promising alternatives to the hanging mercury drop electrode for electrochemical measurements.