Electrochemical determination of 4-nitrophenol in environmental water samples using porous graphitic carbon nitride-coated screen-printed electrode

• Published in: Environmental science and pollution research international 2020-05, Vol.27 (15), p.17481-17491
• Main Authors: Ramalingam, Manikandan, Ponnusamy, Vinoth Kumar, Sangilimuthu, Sriman Narayanan
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Aquatic Pollution; Atmospheric Protection/Air Quality Control/Air Pollution; Carbon; Carbon nitride; Coated electrodes; Earth and Environmental Science; Ecotoxicology; Electrochemical analysis; Electrochemistry; Electrodes; Electrons; Environment; Environmental Chemistry; Environmental Health; Environmental science; Field emission microscopy; Functional groups; Infrared reflection; Infrared spectroscopy; Microscopy; Morphology; Nitrophenol; Photoelectron spectroscopy; Photoelectrons; Protozoa; Resource Recovery from Wastewater; Scanning electron microscopy; Solid Waste and Waste Gas: Engineering and Management Aspects; Spectrum analysis; Structure-function relationships; Transmission electron microscopy; Voltammetry; Waste Water Technology; Water analysis; Water Management; Water Pollution Control; Water sampling; X ray photoelectron spectroscopy; X ray reflection; X-ray diffraction
• ISSN: 0944-1344; 1614-7499
• DOI: 10.1007/s11356-019-05494-3

We demonstrate a facile preparation of novel oxidized graphitic carbon nitride (O-gC 3 N 4 ) applied as an efficient electrocatalyst for highly sensitive electrochemical detection of 4-nitrophenol (4-NP) in environmental water samples. As-prepared O-gC 3 N 4 were characterized by attenuated total reflection infrared spectroscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, and X-ray diffraction methods for the confirmation of different functional groups and structural phase of O-gC 3 N 4 . The surface morphology of the O-gC 3 N 4 was characterized using field emission scanning electron microscopy and high-resolution transmission electron microscopy. Results revealed that the synthesized gC 3 N 4 possessed acid functional groups, nanosheet with porous in nature. The O-gC 3 N 4 was drop cast on the screen-printed electrode (SPE), and it was applied for electrochemical determination of 4-NP using cyclic voltammetry and differential pulse voltammetry (DPV) techniques. The O-gC 3 N 4 /SPE exhibited excellent electrocatalytic activity towards 4-NP detection. Under the optimized experimental conditions, the DPV response of O-gC 3 N 4 /SPE showed good linear range from 0.0033 to 0.313 μM with a detection limit ( S/N  = 3) of 0.075 μM. The developed electrode has successfully applied for the determination of 4-NP in different environmental water samples, and the results have shown satisfied.