Welcome to this week's newsletter from Zimmer and Peacock. This newsletter is a mixture of news, stories and tech notes from Zimmer and Peacock. If you want to subscribe to our newsletter or have any questions regarding Zimmer and Peacock and our passion for biosensor technologies please don't hesitate to contact us.
There's more than one way to measure pH
What's wrong with some of the methods of measuring pH? At ZP we recently discovered the answer to this question whilst working on a novel application, and the answer is that potentiometric measurements using oxide based sensors can take some time to reach equilibrium, When we say 'some time' we specifically mean 200 seconds, which may not sound like a lot, but if you want or need to know the pH of a sample within 30 seconds then 200 seconds is too long.
At ZP we have a different attitude to problems, as we seem them as opportunities and so when faced with a challenge of needing a fast to respond pH sensor, we changed the mode of operation and the chemistry of detection; what we created was a ZP voltammetric pH sensor which was able to measure pH within 30 seconds.
Electrochemistry - The perfect bridge between chemistry/biology and engineering
Scientists in the lab, be it biologists and chemists, love to measure their molecules and assays by optical spectroscopy method, be it: UV-VIS absorption spectroscopy, infrared, surface plasmon resonance, fluorescence etc.
The fundamental issue with these lab techniques is that don't always translate when you need to make real world sensors and assays, especially where parameters such as low cost, quantification etc come into play.
If we take a lesson from history we should consider the home glucose test used by diabetics. When these products first came to market they were optical assays, but were quickly replaced by electrochemical assays.
Why were the first glucose home use meters optical? The answer is because the scientists and engineers developing them were used to optical assays, and so they of course they went with what they knew. The issue is that an optically based assay often requires a sample with a high transparency; but high transparency is an immediate issue when you are trying to analyse real-world samples such as whole blood. When people discovered that they could get a glucose signal in whole blood using screen printed electronics/electrodes the market very quickly moved over to electrochemistry. This move from optical assays to electrochemistry by the glucose detection market was not because the scientists and engineers loved electrochemistry, but it was because it offered a much lower cost detection strategy with a lot less sample workup.
Find out more on our website here.
ZP - exhibiting ECEE 2019
ZP is delighted to be exhibiting alongside Zahner at ECEE in glasgow.
The Electrochemical Conference on Energy and the Environment (ECEE 2019): Bioelectrochemistry and Energy Storage will be held in Glasgow, Scotland from July 21-26, 2019 at the Scottish Events Campus (SEC). This international meeting will focus on the following areas:
Lithium-ion Batteries: From the Design of New Electrode Materials and Electrolytes to the Performance and Recycling of Industrial Systems
In Situ and Operando Characterization of Energy Storage Systems
Mass and Charge Transfer Across Electrochemical Interfaces
From Qualitative Models to Quantitative Predictions
Alternative Battery Chemistries and High-power Devices
Metal Anodes Meet Solid Electrolytes
Enzymatic Bioelectrochemistry
Microbial Bioelectrochemistry
Bio-inspired Electrocatalysis
ZP - South Africa
Zimmer and Peacock is located in the USA, Norway and the United Kingdom, but our perspective is global and so this week we were in South Africa delivering our biosensor, sensor and medical diagnostic technologies to partners there.
ZP - Testing the pungency of garlic
Zimmer and Peacock have been busy going on site and testing garlic products with our garlic sensors.
