Electrochemistry in Microsystems
Electrochemistry is an interesting science, which has played an important role in many biological and environmental applications. Electrochemical phenomena involving electron transfer processes have been utilized for the development of energy devices (e.g., batteries and fuel cells), electrochemical sensors (e.g., glucose sensor and pH sensor) and new materials. Over the years, with the help of modern integrated circuit manufacturing processes, many of the physical instruments and technical devices that used to be bulky and complicated can now be miniaturized with more built-in functionalities. This "microsystem" technology provides opportunities for new electrochemical applications. Nevertheless, it at the same time demands more understanding of electrochemical behavior at a small scale.
In this special issue, I have invited established scholars from four continents (Asia, Australia, Europe, and North America) to report on new developments and technical challenges for electrochemical microsystems. For example, new nanoscale materials (e.g., nanowires, nanocomposites, and nanotubes) that would enhance the catalytic and detection characteristics in electrochemical microsystems are investigated. Advances in diazonium salt based immobilization methods for electrochemical sensors and biosensing arrays are reported. New trends in electroanalytical analyses of cells and metabolic uptakes on lab-on-chip platforms are discussed.
With the publication of this special issue, I hope to stimulate our readers interest in studying electrochemical processes in small scale environments and to identify new applications (e.g., in energy, environment and medicine) that would benefit from the synergy of electrochemistry and microsystems. Last, but not least, I thank our authors for their wonderful contributions.