DOMINANT TECHNOLOGIES IN “INDUSTRY 4.0”
Application and effectiveness of SMFC-based biosensors for real-time monitoring of water pollution with chromium, zink and nickel
Heavy metal pollution from various industries has received much attention worldwide due to their toxicity and persistence in the environment. Traditional water quality monitoring relies on sampling, preservation, transportation and subsequent laboratory analysis. All these procedures require considerable time and make it impossible to timely detect heavy metal contamination. To overcome the drawback, SMFC-based biosensors can be used for monitoring water pollution with heavy metals. The electrochemical characteristics of SMFCs are sensitive to heavy metal ions, therefore, when heavy metals enter them, the cell voltage immediately rises in proportion to their concentration. The change in voltage can be used to find the presence of heavy metals in the water and their concentration. In the present study, the possibilities for monitoring water contaminated with copper, zinc, nickel and chromium by means of SMFC-based biosensors were investigated. The constructed biosensors showed high sensitivity to the ions of the four investigated metals.