Fabrication of hard bound mesoporous silica stabilized Cu(I) electrocatalyst for 4-nitrophenol sensor via alcothermal strategy

Abstract

An efficient air and moisture stable copper (I) incorporated ordered mesoporous silica stabilized electrocatalyst is synthesized through alcothermal strategy using CuCl2·2H2O precursor. The synthesized material is characterized systematically by various instrumental methods. SEM and EDAX spectroscopy studies revealed that the synthesized material is in spherical nanostructured morphology with an average size of 45–65 nm and TEM spectroscopic studies revealed that the material is made up of hexagonal pore of size around 21–30 nm. The observed peaks and corresponding (h,k,l) values are supported the Cu in Cu2O phase by XRD analysis and their oxidation state further confirmed by XPS studies. The synthesized material is further modified as a rapid, selective, sensitive and reliable electrode for sensing 4-Nitrophenol (4-NP). Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy confirmed that the charge transfer occurred in Cu(I)-SBA-15/GCE and their corresponding cyclic voltammetric catalytic peak current is 3.5 times higher compared to bare glassy carbon electrode GCE. The selectivity and sensitivity of Cu(I)-SBA-15/GCE is achieved with 4-NP by CV and DPV studies in the linear range of concentration (20–140 μM) and low detection limit (52 nM). The reproducibility, reusability, influence of various interferon's and real-time analysis are demonstrated for the practical viability of the material.