Exploring the potential of graphite felt electrodes for electrochemical sensing of bisphenol A: An experimental and computational study

Abstract

Considering the seriously detrimental effects of bisphenol A (BPA) on human beings and environment, efforts have been devoted to search for its effective and efficient electrochemical detection. This study explores the potential of Polyacrylonitrile (PAN)- and Rayon-based graphite felts for electrochemical sensing of BPA. Effect of thermal treatment on the physicochemical and electrochemical properties of the graphite felts (GF) is also comprehensively investigated. The felts were thermally activated to increase the hydrophilicity and then characterized by Fourier transform infra-red (FT-IR) spectroscopy, Raman spectrometry, thermal gravimetric analysis (TGA), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and electrochemical methods. Furthermore, the electrochemical behavior of BPA was investigated on the graphite felt electrodes in phosphate buffer solution using cyclic voltammetry (CV) technique. Electrochemical measurements using cyclic voltammetry revealed the superior activity of thermally activated PAN-based GF (T-PGF) as an electroactive substrate for BPA sensing. Under optimized conditions, the CV response of T-PGF towards BPA showed two linear relationships within concentration ranges of 1–100 µM and 100–1000 µM and low limit of detection (0.13 µM at S/N = 3). The experimental results were also validated by density functional theory (DFT) studies. Compared with other sensing substrates for BPA such as glassy carbon electrode, GF with a simple surface modification by thermal treatment appears as a promising and reliable method for rapid detection of BPA and will help in its removal and mitigate its harmful effects.