Greener alternative screen printable ink formulation for the development of flexible reference electrodes

Greener alternatives for high demand materials is becoming increasingly necessary. Conductive screen printable ink formulations are vital components of sensors, e.g., for glucose monitoring in diabetics, and printable electronics. Here, the formulation of a reliable, low-cost, high-performance and greener alternative of an Ag/AgCl screen-printable ink formulation is reported. The ink formulation has a significantly lower silver nanoparticle loading, 25 %, is based on a nontoxic organic solvent and uses a biodegradable polymeric mixture of polyhydroxyether/polyether resin (ratio of 1:2). The cytotoxicity of the Carbon/Ag/AgCl Ref SPE was evaluated and compared to screen-printed electrodes based on a commercial ink formulation. The Carbon/Ag/AgCl Reference screen printed electrodes (Carbon/Ag/AgCl Ref SPE) demonstrated good reproducibility, high analytical performance (RSD% 2.45) and the reference potential is highly stable in the electrochemical detection of glucose using a commercial glucose meter.