| 摘要 |
A method for quantitating or detecting an analyte using an electrochemical reaction, comprising a material in contact with an electrolyte in a cell or chamber but not in electronic contact with an external electronic circuit, at least some of said material having at least its surface conducting or semi-conducting, and applying a voltage gradient across at least a portion of said material, the size of said material, the conductivity of said electrolyte and/or reactant liquid and the voltage gradient being such that not only are anodic and cathodic faces established in respect of at least some of the conducting or semi-conducting material, rendering said material bipolar, the electropotentials so generated are such that said electrochemical reaction takes place on at least a portion of the surfaces of said material resulting in the production of a detectable signal or detectable material. The said bipolar material which, advantageously, are spherical or fibres, may comprise solid conducting or semi-conducting material or cores of non-conducting material with coatings of conducting or non-conducting material thereon. The material, which are preferably in suspension, may also be bound or captured directly or indirectly onto a surface or filter matrix. The said surface or filter matrix if conducting is not acting as an electrode to carry out electrochemistry. The detection of the electrochemically-generated signal or material is related to the quantity or presence of said analyte. <IMAGE> |
