Hydrothermally prepared Ag2O/CuO nanomaterial for an efficient chemical sensor development for environmental remediation

Abstract

The hydrothermally prepared Ag2O/CuO nanosheets (NSs) was utilized to fabricate the sensing substrate to detect selective chemical (2-nitrophenol; 2-NP) in phosphate buffer phase (pH 7.0). The synthesized NS has been characterized by field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), ultraviolet visible spectroscopy (UV/vis), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS), and powder x-ray diffraction (XRD). A slurry of NSs was prepared with ethanol and used to coat as a thin layer onto glassy carbon electrode (GCE) with nafion conducting binder to result the working electrode for developing selective chemical sensor. The fabricated 2-NP chemical sensor was exhibited good selectivity with sensitivity of 28.6392 mAmM−1cm−2 and long-term stability with enhanced electrochemical (I-V) response. The calibration curve was plotted at current versus concentration of 2-NP and the resultant curve found to be linear over the linear dynamic range (LRD) of 0.1 nM ∼ 0.1 mM of 2-NP. The estimated detection limit (DL) and limit of quantification (LOQ) of proposed chemical sensor is calculated as 3.31 ± 0.17 pM and 11.03 ± 0.2 pM at signal to noise ratio of 3 respectively. It is also discussed the possible future prospective uses of this semiconductor nanostructured metal oxides for an efficient detection of environmental toxins.