Coulometric sensors, the application of a sensor-actuator system for long-term stability in chemical sensing

We present a new type of chemical transducer, the coulometric sensor. This sensor is in fact an integrated sensor-actuator system that is able to measure the concentration of acids and bases by means of coulometric titration. An ISFET is used as the sensor to monitor the pH changes induced by the actuator, which is a gold electrode that fits closely around the ISFET's gate area. Coulometry is an absolute method and therefore the output of the new sensor is only determined by its dimensions and is not subject to changes in offset and sensitivity of the indicator electrode. It is thus expected that the operation of the sensor will be stable for a long time, so that only a one-time calibration is needed. As a first example of this new class of chemical transducers, a carbon dioxide sensor is presented. It is shown that the stability is some orders of magnitude better than that for a ‘classical” potentiometric sensor.