Simple sonochemical synthesis of novel grass-like vanadium disulfide: A viable non-enzymatic electrochemical sensor for the detection of hydrogen peroxide

• Published in: Ultrasonics sonochemistry 2018-11, Vol.48, p.473-481
• Main Authors: Karthik, R., Vinoth Kumar, J., Chen, Shen-Ming, Sundaresan, P., Mutharani, B., Chi Chen, Yu, Muthuraj, V.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Electrochemical sensor; Grass-like; Hydrogen peroxide; Milk and urine samples; Vanadium disulfide
• ISSN: 1350-4177; 1873-2828
• DOI: 10.1016/j.ultsonch.2018.07.008

•Novel grass-like VS2 was prepared by simple sonochemical environment.•The grass-like VS2 was used as a modified electrode for the detection of H2O2.•The grass-like VS2/GCE shows excellent electrocatalytic activity towards H2O2.•The VS2/GCE showed proficient sensing ability in milk and urine samples. Design and fabrication of novel inorganic nanomaterials for the low-level detection of food preservative chemicals significant is of interest to the researchers. In the present work, we have developed a novel grass-like vanadium disulfide (GL-VS2) through a simple sonochemical method without surfactants or templates. As-prepared VS2 was used as an electrocatalyst for reduction of hydrogen peroxide (H2O2). The crystalline nature, surface morphology, elemental compositions and binding energy of the as-prepared VS2 were analyzed by X-ray diffraction, Raman spectroscopy, field-emission scanning electron microscopy, energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. The electrochemical studies show that the GL-VS2 modified glassy carbon electrode (GL-VS2/GCE) has a superior electrocatalytic activity and lower-reduction potential than the response observed for unmodified GCE. Furthermore, the GL-VS2/GCE displayed a wide linear response range (0.1–260 μM), high sensitivity (0.23 μA μM−1 cm−2), lower detection limit (26 nM) and excellent selectivity for detection of H2O2. The fabricated GL-VS2/GCE showed excellent practical ability for detection of H2O2 in milk and urine samples, revealing the real-time practical applicability of the sensor in food contaminants.