Electrochemical co-deposition synthesis of Au-ZrO2-graphene nanocomposite for a nonenzymatic methyl parathion sensor

Abstract

For the first time, a simple electrochemical co-deposition was utilized to synthesis the gold and zirconia nanocomposites modified graphene nanosheets on glassy carbon electrode (Au-ZrO2-GNs/GCE) for electrocatalytic analysis of methyl parathion (MP). According to Field-Emission Scanning Electron Microscopy (FE-SEM), Transmission Electronic Microscopy (TEM) and X-Ray Diffraction (XRD), the gold nanoparticles were uniformly distributed on the surface of graphene-based nanocomposite. The Au-ZrO2-GNs/GCE based sensor exhibited superior capacity for MP detection, ascribed to the strong affinity of zirconia towards the phosphoric group, as well as the high catalytic activity and good conductivity of Au-GNs. The best fabrication and work conditions were then obtained by systematically optimization of the electrodeposition process, pH value and enrichment time. Compared to the gold nanoparticles, zirconia or graphene modified electrodes, AuZrO2-GNs/GCE sensor displayed superior electro-catalytic response toward MP oxidation. The sensor response current of square wave voltammetry was highly linearly correlated with the MP concentrations range of 1–100 ng mL−1 and 100–2400 ng mL−1 with the detection limit of 1 ng mL−1. The Au-ZrO2-GNs/GCE nanocomposite sensor showed excellent accuracy and reproducibility for detection of MP in Chinese cabbage samples, providing a new method for efficient pesticide detection in practical applications.