Electrochemical investigations-based on ZnO@Cu core–shell in presence of CTAB surfactant for 4-Chlorophenol

Abstract

The electrochemical performance of 4-Chlorophenol (4CP) was studied using a cationic surfactant cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) and zinc oxide @ copper core–shell nanoparticles ([email protected] core–shell NPs) incorporated in carbon paste electrode (CPE) i.e., poly(CTAB)/[email protected] core–shell NP’s/CPE. The toxic molecule 4CP was investigated in the real samples such as soil, water, vegetables, and fruit samples employing the square wave voltammetric technique (SWV). The poly(CTAB)/ [email protected] core–shell NPs/CPE was characterized as sensitive due to its superior sensing characteristics for the identification of the analyte 4CP. The sensor exhibited excellent catalytic features and peak current with the involvement of pH 7.0 of phosphate buffer solution (PBS) of strength 0.2M employing techniques of voltammetry such as cyclic voltammetry (CV) and square wave voltammetry (SWV). The electro-kinetic parameters like heterogeneous rate constant, effect of temperature, transfer coefficient, scan rate, activation energy, accumulation time, pH, and involvement of electrons in 4CP electro-oxidation of was investigated. For bare CPE, the peak current was noted to be 2.315μA with peak potential of 0.8559 V. For coreshell/CPE, the peak current was 5.642μA with peak potential of 0.7587 V and for CTAB/coreshell/CPE, the peak current was 12.02μA with the peak potential of 0.7217 V. The soil and water samples were showed peak potential at 0.7124 V for different concentrations of 4CP. The limit of detection and quantification was estimated to be 1.655 × 10−9 M and 5.517 × 10−9 M for 4CP.