title: A simple electrochemical platform for detection of nitrobenzene in water samples using an alumina polished glassy carbon electrode.
abstract: In this work, we report a selective electrochemical sensing of nitrobenzene (NB) using an alumina (γ-Al2O3) polished glassy carbon electrode (GCE) for the first time. The scanning electron microscopy studies confirm the presence of alumina particles on the GCE surface. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy studies reveal that the utilized alumina is γ-Al2O3. The alumina polished GCE shows an enhanced sensitivity and lower overpotential toward the reduction of NB compared to unpolished GCE. The differential pulse voltammetry response was used for the determination of NB and it shows that the reduction peak current of NB is linearly proportional to the concentrations of NB ranging from 0.5 to 145.5μM. The limit of detection is found to be 0.15μM based on 3σ. The fabricated electrode exhibits its appropriate selectivity towards NB in the presence of a range of nitro compounds and metal ions. The good practicality of the sensor in various water samples reveals that it can be a promising electrode material for practical applications. In addition, the proposed NB sensor is simple and cost effective one when compared with previously reported NB sensors in the literature.
authors.affiliation: Electroanalysis and Bioelectrochemistry Lab, Department of Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology, National Taipei University of Technology, No. 1, Section 3, Chung-Hsiao East Road, Taipei 106, Taiwan, ROC.
authors.forename: Balamurugan
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Thirumalraj
authors.affiliation: Electroanalysis and Bioelectrochemistry Lab, Department of Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology, National Taipei University of Technology, No. 1, Section 3, Chung-Hsiao East Road, Taipei 106, Taiwan, ROC.
authors.forename: Selvakumar
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Palanisamy
authors.affiliation: Electroanalysis and Bioelectrochemistry Lab, Department of Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology, National Taipei University of Technology, No. 1, Section 3, Chung-Hsiao East Road, Taipei 106, Taiwan, ROC. Electronic address: smchen78@ms15.hinet.net.
authors.forename: Shen-Ming
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Electroanalysis and Bioelectrochemistry Lab, Department of Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology, National Taipei University of Technology, No. 1, Section 3, Chung-Hsiao East Road, Taipei 106, Taiwan, ROC.
authors.forename: Kokulnathan
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Thangavelu
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, Thiagarajar College, Madurai 625009, Tamil Nadu, India.
authors.forename: Prakash
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Periakaruppan
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Education Ministry for Soft Chemistry and Functional Materials, Nanjing University of Science and Technology, Nanjing 210094, China. Electronic address: xhliu@mail.njust.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Xiao-Heng
authors.initials: XH
authors.lastname: Liu
keywords: Alumina; Differential pulse voltammetry; Electro-oxidation; Glassy carbon electrode; Nitrobenzene