Amperometric determination of ecotoxic N-methyl-p-aminophenol sulfate in photographic solution and river water samples based on graphene oxide/CeNbO4 nanocomposite catalyst

Abstract

The electronic conductivity of the metal oxides is generally increased by hybridization of highly conductive carbon supportive materials. In this present work, we have demonstrated a novel one-pot preparation of cerium niobate (CeNbO4) nanoparticles embedded with graphene oxide (GO/CeNbO4) composite, for ultrasensitive detection of the photographic developing agent, metol (MTL). The as-prepared GO/CeNbO4 was analyzed by various characterization techniques. The intensive characterization techniques were used to affirm the detailed structural moiety, size, morphology, and surface area of GO/CeNbO4. The GO/CeNbO4 modified glassy carbon electrode (GCE) affords a superior electrocatalytic activity toward MTL. The obtained amperometric response on the GO/CeNbO4/GCE holding an extremely low level detection of 10 nM and superior sensitivity of 10.97 µA µM–1 cm–2 toward MTL detection. Besides, the GO/CeNbO4/GCE also gives excellent selectivity, stability, repeatability, and reproducibility. We achieved excellent recovery results in real photographic solution and river water samples analysis with great accuracy. This work offers a novel insight into the growth of the carbon-based niobate family with electrochemical sensor applications.