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Electrochemical sensor for the sensitive detection of o-nitrophenol using graphene oxide-poly(ethyleneimine) dendrimer-modified glassy carbon electrode

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Abstract

The graphene oxide-poly(ethyleneimine) dendrimer (GO–PEI) was synthesized and characterized by SEM, TEM, UV–Vis, FTIR, and Raman spectroscopies and further employed for the fabrication of modified glassy carbon electrode by a drop-cast method. The electrochemical behaviour of ortho-nitrophenol (o-NP) was investigated at the modified electrode, and the results of the investigation revealed that the material exhibited a significant reduction capability towards o-NP, an indication of sensitive electrochemical response. In addition, the modified electrode possessed an excellent electrochemical behaviour towards the redox of o-NP by combining the properties of both GO and PEI. Also, it was found that the o-NP can be separated indigenously from different potentials of nitrosophenol or hydroxyl aminophenol redox reaction. The peak currents showed a linear relationship with the concentration of o-NP in the range of 5–155 μM. The limit of detection of o-NP is low as 0.10 μM characterized by the signal-to-noise characteristics (S/N = 3). The relative standard deviation (RSD) for the three times determination towards o-NP is 0.12 %, which is highly specified, and reveals that this method has good properties such as reproducibility capability, selectivity, repeatability, and stability. Hence, the present GO–PEI-based o-NP sensors proved to be endeavouring for a broad range of applications related to the detection of trace amounts of phenolic compounds. In addition, the material was successfully employed for the treatment of industrially contaminated water during the removal of heavy metals (Fe3+, Ni2+, Cu2+, Pb2+, and Zn2+ ions).

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Acknowledgments

The authors thank University of Johannesburg and Aligarh Muslim University for providing facilities. We thank an anonymous reviewer for constructive criticism on earlier manuscript version.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Environmental Materials Division, CSIR-National Environmental Engineering Research Institute (CSIR-NEERI), Nagpur, 440020, India

    Tanvir Arfin

  2. Analytical Research Laboratory, Department of Chemistry, Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh, 202002, India

    Rani Bushra

  3. Surfactants Research Chair, Department of Chemistry, College of Science, King Saud University, P.O. Box 2455, Riyadh, 11451, Saudi Arabia

    Faruq Mohammad

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Arfin, T., Bushra, R. & Mohammad, F. Electrochemical sensor for the sensitive detection of o-nitrophenol using graphene oxide-poly(ethyleneimine) dendrimer-modified glassy carbon electrode. Graphene Technol 1, 1–15 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s41127-016-0002-1

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