Mercury and mercury electrodes in the electrochemistry of biopolymers: Are they really inevitable in the decade of non-mercury sensors?

Abstract

In this article, electrochemical properties of nucleic acids and proteins at mercury electrodes are briefly reviewed. We focus on structure sensitive DNA and protein sensing and/or techniques based on the utilization of catalytic hydrogen evolution i.e., analyses that are inherently connected with the mercury electrodes. Advantages of these approaches are briefly summarized and discussed towards answering the title question regarding necessity of mercury electrodes in biopolymer electroanalysis.