Surface Modification of Screen-Printed Carbon Electrode (SPCE) with Calixarene-Functionalized Electrochemically Reduced Graphene Oxide (ERGO/C4) in the Electrochemical Detection of Anthracene

Abstract

In this study, electrochemically reduced graphene oxide (ERGO) and 4-tertbutylcalix[4]arene (C4) were deposited on the surface of screen-printed carbon electrodes (SPCE) to detect anthracene in aqueous solution. The formation of electrochemically reduced graphene oxide/calix[4]arene (ERGO/C4) on SPCE was characterized using Raman spectroscopy, FTIR, and FESEM. Electrochemical properties of the modified electrode were investigated by means of CV and DPV. The electrochemical response of anthracene was greatly improved on ERGO/C4-SPCE compared to bare SPCE. Under optimized condition, the anthracene peak showed a good linear relationship at a concentration ranging from 2–8 nM and a detection limit of 0.016 nM. The developed sensor was able to conserve its performance in the presence of various organic compound and inorganic metal ions and also yielded a good comparable result to the conventional method which is HPLC in real sample with acceptable recovery of 96–97%; thus proving to be a promising candidate for rapid, inexpensive, and sensitive determination of anthracene in real samples.