Combined Oxygen and Nitrous Oxide Microsensor for Denitrification Studies

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Abstract
The construction of a microsensor which can be used to measure O2 and N2O simultaneously is described. The microsensor exhibited a linear response to both O2 and N2O, and the response to N2O was independent of the O2 concentration and vice versa. The N2O detection limit of a microsensor with a tip diameter of 20 μm was around 1 μmol liter−1. The signals for O2 and N2O were affected by hydrogen sulfide, but other interfering agents were not observed in the biofilms and sediments analyzed. Microprofiles of O2 and N2O were measured in a biofilm which was exposed to acetylene to block the N2O reductase activity of denitrifying bacteria. O2 penetrated about 0.5 mm into the biofilm and was not affected by acetylene, but the N2O concentration at 1.4 mm depth increased from 32 to 411 μmol liter−1 after the addition of the inhibitor. The shape of the N2O profile after the addition of acetylene showed that denitrification (denitrifying activity) was detectable in all anoxic layers of the biofilm.