Flower-like Co3O4/graphitic carbon nitride nanocomposite based electrochemical sensor and its highly sensitive electrocatalysis of hydrazine

Abstract

Flower-like Co3O4/graphitic carbon nitride (Co3O4/g-C3N4) nanocomposite was successfully synthesized via a facile one-pot hydrothermal method. Scanning electron microscope (SEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) were employed to characterize the as-synthesized sensing material. The as-prepared Co3O4 containing 2% mass fraction of g-C3N4 nanocomposite modified glassy carbon electrode shows excellent electrochemical performance towards the oxidation of hydrazine by means of cyclic voltammetry and chronoamperometry. At the scan rate range from 20 to 300 mV s−1 in 2 M NaOH electrolyte, the anodic and cathodic peak currents were linear relationship with scan rates and shows that the electrochemical process was controlled by diffuse. Under the optimum conditions, the anodic current response is proportional to the hydrazine concentration ranges of 5 μM–1000 μM with the calibration equation Ipa(μA) = -874.3C-12.44 (mM) and coefficient 0.9971 at 0.50 V as applied potential. The detection limit was down to 1 μM at the signal-to-noise ratio of 3 and sensitivity high to 874.3 μA mM−1. Furthermore, the results also demonstrated that the sensor has good selectively, appreciable stability, repeatability and reproducibility.