Dosimeter having a reusable electrochemical measuring cell

Abstract

The invention is directed to a dosimeter for detecting gaseous substances or substances dissolved in liquids. The dosimeter includes a detection chamber which is partitioned off with respect to the ambient by a membrane which is permeable to the substance to be detected. The detection chamber is filled with an electrolyte which is subjected to changes in its characteristic under the action of the substance to be detected and these changes can be evaluated as electrical measured values via appropriate electrodes. The electrolyte contains a reagent which goes into an irreversible reaction with the substance to be detected and the dosimeter is improved so that after the evaluation it can be used again for measuring tasks or for collecting the substance to be detected. Furthermore, a calibration or a function test can be carried out on each dosimeter without its measurement readiness being limited thereby. A measuring electrode and a counter electrode are disposed in the detection chamber and are decoupled from each other with respect to a mass transport of the reagent as well as a reaction product formed from the reaction of the reagent with the substance to be detected. The reaction product can be converted quantitatively to a secondary product by a redox reaction at the measuring electrode by applying a voltage across the measuring electrode and the counter electrode.