Please cite this article in press as: H. Cankurtaran, et al., Conductive composites of serigraphic inks and their usage in heavy metal sensor and biosensor, Prog. Org. Coat. (2016), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.porgcoat.2016.04.023 ARTICLE IN PRESS G Model POC-3954; No. of Pages 4 Progress in Organic Coatings xxx (2016) xxx–xxx Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Progress in Organic Coatings journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/porgcoat Conductive composites of serigraphic inks and their usage in heavy metal sensor and biosensor Hüsnü Cankurtaran a,∗ , Emel Berber Karadayi a , Sıdıka Sungur b a Yıldız Technical University, Department of Chemistry, 34220, Davutpasa, ˙ Istanbul, Turkey b ˙ Istanbul Yeni Yüzyıl University, Faculty of Pharmacy, Topkapı, ˙ Istanbul, Turkey a r t i c l e i n f o Article history: Available online xxx Keywords: Serigraphic ink Conductive inks Sensor Heavy metal analysis Biosensor a b s t r a c t In this study, an epoxy based transparent serigraphic ink with its hardener was used for preparing the graphite composite electrodes. A mercury film coated epoxy based tubular graphite electrode was used for trace analysis of Pb 2+ ion using square wave anodic stripping voltammetry (SWASV). The detection limit of lead was reasonable as 0.98 g/L for ten minutes reductive deposition time. The optimized method was applied to determine lead content in ground and waste water sample. A similar epoxy composite was also used to prepare the disposable planar thick film electrodes on silver-patterned epoxy circuit board substrates. The electrochemical performances of these planar electrodes against ferrocyanide ion, ascorbic acid and thioacetic acid were investigated by using cyclic voltammetry. Furthermore, the enzyme modified planar electrodes were used for the pesticide (aldicarb) determination. The results showed that the planar thick film and mercury coated tubular composite electrodes were suitable for sensitive analysis of common analytes and for further modifications. © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. 1. Introduction Conductive inks are very popular in many industrial areas such as electric-electronic, automotive, energy. Flexible printed circuit boards, displays, solar cells, antennas, light-emitting diodes, etc. have been easily produced by using conductive composite inks [1–5]. Printed electronics take advantage of printing technology to manufacture cheap electronic devices. The other application area of conductive inks is chemical sensor technology. Various con- ductive inks which are composed of conductive materials such as silver, carbon, carbon nanotube, etc. and nonconductive poly- meric binders have been commercialized to manufacture thin and thick film planar sensors and similar devices [6–10]. Commercial- ized conductive inks are suitable for mass production of disposable electrodes which may be manufactured at very low cost. In this study, an epoxy based transparent serigraphic ink and its hardener were purchased from local market and used as binders to prepare graphite electrodes. The mercury coated tubular graphite composite electrodes were used for trace determination of nanomolar concentration of heavy metal ions in waste water sam- ple. Moreover, the planar thick film electrodes were also prepared ∗ Corresponding author. E-mail address: husnu3500@yahoo.com (H. Cankurtaran). by using similar ink composition and used to explore their electro- chemical performances in the determination of ascorbic acid (AA), thioacetic acid (TAA), ferrocyanide ion and aldicarb pesticide. 2. Experimental Stock 1 × 10 −3 M Pb 2+ ion solution was prepared from the ana- lytical grade of Pb(NO 3 ) 2 salt (Merck, Germany) The supporting electrolyte of 0.1 M HCl and pH 7.4 (0.1 M KCl) buffer solutions were prepared from the suprapure grade of Merck products. 0.1 M potassium ferrocyanide, AA and TAA stock solutions were prepared analytical grade of Merck and Fluka products. Acetylcholinesterase (AChE), acetylthiocholine iodide (ATChI), bovine serum albumin (BSA), glutaraldehyde (GA) and Nafion were Alfa Aesar (USA) prod- ucts. Milli-Q water (>18 M cm −1 ) was used throughout to prepare all aqueous solutions. Graphite powder (<100 m) was purchased from Fluka, Italy. The epoxy based HDPE transparent serigraphic ink and the HDPE hardener were obtained from DYO (Turkey) and used for preparing the conductive composites. Toluene (Merck) and isophorone (Alfa Aesar, USA) were used as ink thinners. A PST050 Radiometer Potentiostat with MDE 150 Polarographic Stand was used for voltammetric studies. All electrochemical mea- surements were made at room temperature with a hand-made platinum wire auxiliary electrode and a Ag/AgCl (3 M KCl) reference http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.porgcoat.2016.04.023 0300-9440/© 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.