A ratiometric electrochemical sensor for bisphenol A detection based on Ag@Fe3O4-rGO composite

Abstract

Bisphenol A (BPA) is a potential endocrine-disrupting compound with adverse effects on both human health and the environment. Therefore, it is urgent to develop a convenient, sensitive and accurate method for BPA detection. In this paper, a ratiometric electrochemical sensor for BPA detection was developed using Ag@Fe3O4-rGO composite modified glassy carbon electrode (GCE), with the peak oxidation current of silver nanoparticles (NPs) in the material as the reference signal and the peak oxidation current of BPA as the indicator signal. The Ag@Fe3O4-rGO composite was prepared by a simple one-step solvothermal method. Due to the chemical functionality and two-dimensional structure, the rGO combined with Ag@Fe3O4 core–shell NPs provides an excellent platform for BPA detection. The morphology, structure and electrochemical performance of Ag@Fe3O4-rGO composite were characterized by scanning electron microscope, transmission electron microscope, X-ray diffraction, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, Raman spectroscopy and electrochemical techniques. The proposed ratiometric electrochemical BPA sensor shows the linear detection range of 0.1–10.0 µM (R2 = 0.997), with detection limit of 0.028 μM (S/N = 3), good selectivity, reproducibility and stability. In addition, this proposed ratiometric electrochemical sensor was successfully verified in the detection of BPA in real water samples.