Self-assembled Ti3C2TX MXene/graphene composite for the electrochemical reduction and detection of p-nitrophenol

Abstract

p-Nitrophenol (p-NP) is an important phenolic environmental pollutant. The development of novel rapid determination methods for p-NP is of significance for environmental monitoring. In this work, a sensitive electrochemical sensor based on Ti3C2TX MXene/graphene composite was developed to detect p-NP in aqueous samples. Firstly, delaminated titanium carbide (D-Ti3C2TX) was successfully prepared via an optimized minimally intensive layer delamination (MILD) method, which was further followed by the self-assembly method to form D-Ti3C2TX/graphene (D-Ti3C2TX/GR) composite. The prepared materials were characterized by scanning electron microscopic (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), atomic force microscopy (AFM) and Raman spectroscopy. Then the glassy carbon electrode (GCE) was modified by D-Ti3C2TX/GR composite to prepare the D-Ti3C2TX/GR/GCE sensor. The electrochemical behavior of D-Ti3C2TX/GR/GCE was investigated by cyclic voltammetry (CV), electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS), and chronocoulometry. Furthermore, the proposed sensor showed a strong electrochemical response based on the p-NP reduction reaction, benefiting from abundant active sites, fast electron transfer, and excellent electro-catalytic performance of the D-Ti3C2TX/GR composite. Under the optimal conditions, the D-Ti3C2TX/GR based electrochemical sensor displayed a linear response in the p-NP concentration range from 1 to 175 μmol·L−1 with a detection limit of 0.16 μmol·L−1. The anti-interference performance, reproducibility, stability, and recovery in real sample analysis were also further evaluated. This study provided a novel and sensitive method for the rapid determination of p-NP in environmental samples.