A Study on Liquid−Liquid Distribution Based on Single Picoliter Droplets and in Situ Electrochemical Measurements

Abstract

A microelectrode technique combined with the microcapillary injection/manipulation of a single organic droplet in water was developed. The technique was applied to the study of the distribution of a ferrocene derivative across a single-picoliter-nitrobenzene-droplet/water interface and to the simultaneous in situ electrochemical determination of the distributed solute in the picomole-femtomole range. The liquid-liquid distribution processes were discussed in terms of droplet size and solute concentration (in water) dependencies of the interfacial mass transfer rate.