The effect of carbon material on the electroanalytical determination of 4-chloro-3-methylphenol using the sol-gel derived carbon ceramic electrodes

Abstract

A surface renewable ceramic electrode modified in its entire volume with multi-walled carbon nanotubes (CNT-CCE) was obtained by the sol-gel method. Bare carbon ceramic electrode (GP-CCE) was also produced for comparison. The surface morphology and electrochemical properties of the electrodes were analyzed. The morphology and topography were tested by means of, respectively, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and atomic force microscopy (AFM). Cyclic voltammetry was used to analyze the electrochemical features (e.g. potential window). Moreover, the obtained electrodes were used for square wave voltammetric (SWV) determination of 4-chloro-3-methylphenol (PCMC). The calibration curves were obtained for GP-CCE and CNT-CCE in the chosen optimal experimental conditions (composition of the supporting electrolyte, step potential, amplitude, frequency). The concentration ranges of 9–29μmolL−1 and 3–32μmolL−1 were recorded, respectively, for GP-CCE and CNT-CCE. The proposed method was validated, and the limit of detection (LOD) and the limit of quantitation (LOQ) were calculated. Finally, the obtained electrodes and the developed procedure were successfully applied to determine PCMC in spiked tap water. Satisfactory results were obtained, and they demonstrated that using MWCNTs instead of GP improves the quality of the CCE electrodes.