Nanosilver and protonated carbon nitride co-coated carbon cloth fibers based non-enzymatic electrochemical sensor for determination of carcinogenic nitrite

Abstract

A novel electrochemical nitrite (NaNO2) sensor was fabricated by combining nanosilver with protonated carbon nitride (H-C3N4) supported on carbon cloth (CC). H-C3N4 was distributed uniformly on the CC surface, providing more active sites for the electrocatalytic active center (nanosilver). CC as a substrate improved the H-C3N4 conductivity and provided the sensor with a flexible feature. The strong synergistic effect between CC, H-C3N4, and nanosilver can exert a significant electrocatalytic performance on the flexible sensor. The Ag/H-C3N4/CC flexible sensor electrode did not consume much more time to polish the surface of traditional electrodes, and possessed a high sensitivity of 0.85537 μA/mg, a wide linear response range that spanned 5 to 1000 μM, a low detection limit of 0.216 μM (S/N = 3), and high selectivity for nitrite in the presence of common organic and inorganic interfering species (such as CaCl2, NaCl, MgCl2, NaNO3, glucose, urea, and p-nitrophenol). The Ag/H-C3N4/CC flexible sensor can be used for sample detection of nitrite as it has a strong anti-interference ability, good reproducibility, repeatability, and long-term stability. The Ag/H-C3N4/CC sensor is a promising alternative electrode to traditional ones such as ITO, gold or glassy carbon electrodes.