Development of a new sensor for total organic carbon (TOC) determination

A sensor to determine TOC is described. It is based on the photoassisted degradation of organic compounds concurring to TOC and on the determination of the resultant CO₂. The sensor was successfully tested on target molecules, demonstrating that the linear correlation constant between TOC values and produced CO₂ varies according to the considered compound so that absolute value determination is not possible in largely heterogeneous solutions but can only be referred to reference compounds on the TOC scale.