Patent ID: 7811433

Claim:
An electrochemical sensor for the detection of carbon dioxide gas comprising: a non-conductive solid substrate; a metal oxide sensing electrode, comprising a metal oxide of composition MO 2 , where M is Ir or Ru, positioned on said substrate, wherein said metal oxide is electrochemically reduced to M 2 O 3 during carbon dioxide detection; a reference electrode positioned on said substrate; a counter electrode positioned on said substrate; a solid polymer electrolyte anion-exchange membrane in intimate contact with said metal oxide sensing electrode, said reference electrode, and said counter electrode, wherein the counter electrode is configured to react with ions released from the membrane during carbon dioxide detection and release the same ions for ion exchange into the membrane during electrical regeneration, an electrical pulse generator electrically connected to said metal oxide sensing electrode, said reference electrode, and said counter electrode, for periodically generating at least one electrical pulse that simultaneously regenerates the electrochemically reduced metal oxide, the membrane, and counter electrode to their original form.