Microprofiling real time nitric oxide flux for field studies using a stratified nanohybrid carbon–metal electrode

), response time (1.1 ± 0.1 s), operating potential (+720 mV), and selectivity of the nanomaterial-modified microelectrode are similar to laboratory microelectrode designs, enabling studies of NO flux in field studies. NO efflux was first measured from chitosan and alginate polymers in abiotic studies, and a deterministic model used to determine the effective diffusion coefficient for each polymer composite. To demonstrate the practicality of the sensor, NO flux was quantified in three model organisms with known NO pathways, including: bacteria, plant, and an invertebrate animal. For each organism, an established hypothesis was validated based on NO flux measurement and the results confirm data collected using standard analytical techniques. The sensor can be used to expand our fundamental knowledge of NO transport by facilitating field experiments which are not possible with standard techniques.