Electrochemical sensing of N-phenyl-1-naphthylamine using the MWCNT/β-CD through ‘host scavenger–guest pollutant’ mechanism

Abstract

In this report, the synergistic effect of MWCNTs and β-cyclodextrin (β-CD) on glassy carbon electrode (GCE) for the electrochemical sensing of N-Phenylnaphthalen-1-amine (NPN) is demonstrated. The dual role of β-CD (i) as a modifier for MWCNTs, (ii) as scavenger host molecule for entrapping NPN guest molecule is also demoed through material characterization and sensing techniques. The functionalization of β-CD with MWCNTs is corroborated using spectral and XRD techniques. The emplacement of β-CD molecules in between the nanotube walls is affirmed through surface morphological and dispersion investigations. The physically modified β-CD/MWCNTs/GCE electrode possesses good dispersibility, acceptable stability, fast response, selectivity, the sensitivity of 10–6 M, the low detection limit of 15 × 10–9, and high recovery value of 100% in real samples.