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Screen-printed electrodes made of a bismuth nanoparticle porous carbon nanocomposite applied to the determination of heavy metal ions

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Abstract

This work reports on the simplified fabrication and on the characterization of bismuth-based screen-printed electrodes (SPEs) for use in heavy metal detection. A nanocomposite consisting of bismuth nanoparticles and amorphous carbon was synthesized by a combined one-step sol-gel and pyrolysis process and milled down to a specific particle size distribution as required for the preparation of an ink formulation to be used in screen printing. The resulting electrochemical devices were applied to the detection of Pb(II) and Cd(II) ions in water samples. The porous structure of carbon and the high surface area of the bismuth nanoparticles allow for the detection of Pb(II) and Cd(II) at concentration levels below 4 ppb. The application of the SPEs was demonstrated by quantifying these ions in tap drinking water and wastewater collected from an influent of an urban wastewater treatment plant.

A tailor-made bismuth nanoparticle porous carbon nanocomposite material, synthesized by a sol-gel/pyrolysis process, was used for the fabrication of screen-printed electrodes applied to the detection of Pb(II) and Cd(II) in water samples.

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Acknowledgments

This research was partially funded by the Spanish Government and cofounded by the European Social Fund (MAT2012-35324, TEC2010-17274, CGL2013-48460-C2), the Generalitat de Catalunya (2014SGR213, 2014SGR1645) and the European Commission (FP7-Marie Curie Actions, PCIG09-GA-2011-294168 grant and FP7-OCEAN-COMMON SENSE as well as the COST Action MP1202). The Chinese Scholarship Council fellowship of P. N. is also acknowledged.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institut de Ciència de Materials de Barcelona, ICMAB (CSIC), Campus UAB, 08193, Bellaterra, Spain

    Pengfei Niu, Martí Gich & Anna Roig

  2. Instituto de Microelectrónica de Barcelona, IMB-CNM (CSIC), Campus UAB, 08193, Bellaterra, Spain

    César Fernández-Sánchez

  3. DropSens, S.L., Ed. CEEI, Parque Tecnológico de Asturias, 33428, Llanera, Asturias, Spain

    Carla Navarro-Hernández & Pablo Fanjul-Bolado

Authors
  1. Pengfei Niu
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  2. César Fernández-Sánchez
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  3. Martí Gich
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  4. Carla Navarro-Hernández
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  5. Pablo Fanjul-Bolado
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  6. Anna Roig
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Corresponding authors

Correspondence to César Fernández-Sánchez or Martí Gich.

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Niu, P., Fernández-Sánchez, C., Gich, M. et al. Screen-printed electrodes made of a bismuth nanoparticle porous carbon nanocomposite applied to the determination of heavy metal ions. Microchim Acta 183, 617–623 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00604-015-1684-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00604-015-1684-4

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