Inhibited enzyme electrodes. Part 3. A sensor for low levels of H2S and HCN.

It is shown that an inhibited enzyme electrode, using cytochrome oxidase, will respond to H2S, HCN and azide ion. For all three inhibitors the kinetics of the inhibiton and recovery processes have been analysed using the theoretical model presented previously (Albery et al., 1990a). Rearrangement of the differential equation describing inhibition and the development of the necessary software has enabled us to obtain values of the concentration of inhibitor in a matter of seconds after exposure of the sensor. The sensor will measure concentrations of H2S down to 1 ppm in the gas phase and concentrations of HCN and azide ion down to 0.4 mumol dm-3 in the solution phase.