Oxygenated graphitic carbon nitride based electrochemical sensor for dibenzofuran detection

• Published in: Diamond and related materials 2023-11, Vol.139, p.110276, Article 110276
• Main Authors: Singh, Sonam, Naithani, Aparna, Kandari, Krish, Roy, Souradeep, Sain, Sourav, Roy, Susanta Sinha, Wadhwa, Shikha, Tauseef, Syed Mohammad, Mathur, Ashish
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Dibenzofuran; Electrochemical transduction; Environmental sensor; Microplastics; Oxygen-doped graphitic carbon nitride (O-gCN)
• ISSN: 0925-9635; 1879-0062
• DOI: 10.1016/j.diamond.2023.110276

Dibenzofuran (DBF) is one of the carcinogenic species which is stamped among the ‘pollutants of concern’ by international environmental protection agencies. This tenacious Persistent, Bioaccumulate and Toxic (PBT) compound is generated as a result of industrial effluents, agricultural wastes, aqueous chlorination and by-products of various pharmaceutical processes. Prolonged exposure to DBF results in significant degradation of environment quality and human health, as it has a slower decomposition capability. Furthermore, there are no relevant technologies in the market which can efficiently detect the presence of DBF due to which numerous human lives are being lost because of its after-effects/complications. Thus, the development of an efficient sensor platform for the trace quantification of this highly toxic species is essential and of utmost requirement which then is the novelty of this work. The current study is focused on the development of an electroanalytical sensing platform, based on oxygenated graphitic carbon nitride (O-gCN) nanostructures, for the detection of DBF in water. The electroanalytical activity of O-gCN is studied using Electrochemical Impedance Spectroscopy (EIS) and Cyclic Voltammetry (CV). The developed sensor exhibited a Limit of Detection (LoD) of 1.58 pM, and is found to be selective in the presence of interferants with shelf life of 50 days; thereby demonstrating a huge potential to be translated towards on-field applications. [Display omitted] •Oxygenated Graphitic Carbon Nitride (O-gCN) nanoflakes as a robust Nano transduction platform for the detection of dibenzofuran.•High degree of linearity and enhanced limit of detection exhibited by developed biosensor.•Cost-effective nanosensors having huge potential for deployment in global safe-water initiative.