Electrochemical preparation of thin-layered molybdenum disulfide-poly(m-aminobenzenesulfonic acid) nanocomposite for TNT detection

• Published in: Journal of electroanalytical chemistry (Lausanne, Switzerland) Switzerland), 2016-11, Vol.781, p.70-75
• Main Authors: Yang, Tao, Yu, Renzhong, Chen, Huaiyin, Yang, Ruirui, Wang, Shiying, Luo, Xiliang, Jiao, Kui
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Aromatic compounds; Cyclic compounds; Cyclic voltammetry; Detection; Electrocatalysis; Electrochemical analysis; Fourier transforms; m-Aminobenzenesulfonic acid; Molybdenum disulfide; Morphology; Nanocomposites; Polymerization; Scanning electron microscopy; Thin-layered MoS2; TNT detection; Trinitrotoluene; Voltammetry; X-ray diffraction
• ISSN: 1572-6657; 1873-2569
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jelechem.2016.09.009

Recently, molybdenum disulfide-based nanocomposites have been widely used in electrochemical sensing area. In this paper, molybdenum disulfide-poly(m-aminobenzenesulfonic acid) (MoS2-PABSA) nanocomposite was prepared through a simple electropolymerization procedure for TNT detection. The pre-obtained thin-layered MoS2 nanosheet was adopted as the scaffold in the electropolymerization process and the m-aminobenzenesulfonic acid monomer was effectively electrodeposited on it via cyclic voltammetry. The morphology and electrochemical behaviors of MoS2-PABSA nanocomposite were investigated by scanning electron microscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction and some electrochemical methods. The obtained nanocomposite possesses excellent electrochemical detecting performance towards aromatic ring compounds, such as 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene, TNT, which have strong π-π interaction with the MoS2-PABSA sensing platform. The detailed electrochemical characterization of MoS2-PABSA showed the influence of electropolymerization cycles and pH values on detection of TNT. Under the optimum condition, highly sensitive detection for TNT was realized with the limit of detection of 0.043ppb (0.187nmolL−1) and a linear range of 0.1–200ppb. This research proves that the MoS2-PABSA was a worthy electrochemical sensing platform for further simple and sensitive detection of some other aromatic ring compounds. [Display omitted] •MoS2-PABSA nanocomposite was fabricated via electropolymerization.•The MoS2 nanosheet was adopted as a scaffold in the electropolymerization process.•The electropolymerization efficiency was enhanced due to the existence of MoS2.•The MoS2-PABSA possesses excellent electrochemical detecting performance towards TNT.