Addressable nanoelectrode membrane arrays: fabrication and steady-state behavior

An addressable nanoelectrode membrane array (ANEMA) based on a Au-filled track-etched polycarbonate membrane was fabricated. The Au-filled membrane was secured to a lithographically fabricated addressable ultramicroelectrode (UME) array patterned with 25 regularly spaced (100 microm center to center spacing), 10 microm diameter recessed Pt UMEs to create 25 microregions of 10 microm diameter nanoelectrode ensembles (NEEs) on the membrane. The steady-state voltammetric behavior of 1.0 mM Ru(NH(3))(6)Cl(3) and 1.0 mM ferrocene methanol in 0.1 M KCl on each of the micro NEEs resulted in sigmoidal-shaped voltammograms which were reproducible across the ANEMA. This reproducibility of the steady-state current was attributed to the overlapping hemispherical diffusion layers at the Au-filled nanopores of each 10 microm diameter NEE of a ANEMA. The track-etched polycarbonate membranes were filled using a gold electroless deposition procedure into the 30 nm diameter pores in the membrane. Electrical connection between the Au-filled template array and the lithographic UME platform array was achieved by potentiostatic electrodeposition of Cu from an acidic copper solution into each of the 25 recessed Pt UMEs on the UME array platform. A multiplexer unit capable of addressing 64 individual micro NEEs on an ANEMA is described. ANEMAs have advantages of high reproducibility, facile fabrication, multitime reuse of lithographically fabricated UME arrays, and purely steady-state behavior.