A laminar flow microfluidic fuel cell for detection of hexavalent chromium concentration.

An electrochemical hexavalent chromium concentration sensor based on a microfluidic fuel cell is presented. The correlation between current density and chromium concentration is established in this report. Three related operation parameters are investigated, including pH values, temperature, and external resistance on the sensor performance. The results show that the current density increases with increasing temperature and the sensor produces a maximum regression coefficient at the catholyte pH value of 1.0. Moreover, it is found that the external resistance has a great influence on the linearity and current densities of the microfluidic sensor. Owing to the membraneless structure and the steady co-laminar flow inside the microchannel, the microfluidic sensor exhibits short response time to hexavalent chromium concentration. The laminar flow fuel cell sensor provides a new and simple method for detecting hexavalent chromium concentration in the industrial wastewater.