Facile synthesis of bowknot-like cerous phosphate as a bifunctional sensor for ascorbic acid detection

• Published in: Journal of solid state chemistry 2022-03, Vol.307, p.122745, Article 122745
• Main Authors: Zhu, Kai, Wang, Jie, Luo, Yu-Hui, Zhang, Yu, Cai, Xin-Qin, Liu, Bo-Tao, Zhang, Qing-Yu, Wu, Hai-Ying, Liu, Zun-Zheng, Zhang, Dong-En
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Ascorbic acid; Cerous phosphate; Electrochemical sensing; Fluorescent sensing; Morphology regulation
• ISSN: 0022-4596; 1095-726X
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jssc.2021.122745

Cerous phosphate (CePO4) is attracting increasing attentions due to its potential sensing properties. But so far, the effect of morphology on its electrochemical sensing performance is scarcely reported. In this work, a bowknot-like CePO4 (B–CePO4) has been hydrothermally synthesized and characterized using XRD, BET, SEM, TEM, FT-IR spectroscopy and UV–Vis spectroscopy. It was shown that both the reaction time and the amount of urea had an important influence on the formation of CePO4 bowknots. The constructed B–CePO4 showed hierarchical structure and enhanced electron transfer ability. Then, it was utilized as an effective sensor for electrochemical sensing of ascorbic acid (AA) with wide linear range of 5.0–2150 ​μM, low detect limitation of 0.51 ​μM, high selectivity, good repeatability, and high stability. Furthermore, the B–CePO4 can also be used to detect AA in commercial vitamin tablets. In addition, due to its good fluorescent performance, B–CePO4 was used for fluorescence detecting of AA. This work provides an effective strategy for exploring new nanomaterials for sensing biomolecules. A bowknot-like cerous phosphate was prepared using a simple hydrothermal method, and was developed as a bifunctional sensor for electrochemical and fluorescent detection of AA. [Display omitted] •Bowknot-like CePO4 with hierarchical structure was hydrothermally synthesized.•The formation of bowknot-like CePO4 is closely related to reaction time and the amount of urea.•The bowknot-like CePO4 was used as a bifunctional sensor for electrochemical and fluorescent AA sensing.•This work provides an effective strategy for exploring new nanomaterials for sensing biomolecules.