title: Highly-sensitive electrocatalytic determination for toxic phenols based on coupled cMWCNT/cyclodextrin edge-functionalized graphene composite.
abstract: Highly-sensitive electrocatalytic determination of toxic phenol compounds is of significance in environmental monitoring due to their low degradation and high toxicity to the environment and humans. In this paper, a rapid and sensitive electrochemical sensor based on coupled carboxyl-multi-walled carbon nanotube (cMWCNT) and cyclodextrin (CD) edge-functionalized graphene composite was successfully employed towards trace detection of three typical phenols (4-aminophenol, 4-AP; 4-chlorophenol, 4-CP; 4-nitrophenol, 4-NP). The morphology studies from scanning electron microscope and transmission electron microscope analysis revealed that cMWCNTs as conductive bridges were successfully incorporated into CD edge-functionalized graphene layers. Further, The electrocatalytic detection performance of the 3D simultaneously reduced and self-assembled sensing architecture (GN-CD-cMWCNT) with trace amounts of CDs was evaluated. The electrochemical studies demonstrated that GN-CD-cMWCNT displays excellent electrocatalytic activity, high sensitivity and stability. Under optimal conditions, the current responses of 4-AP, 4-CP and 4-NP are linear to concentrations over two different ranges, with low detection limit of 0.019, 0.017 and 0.027μM (S/N=3), respectively. And, GN-CD-cMWCNT shows an excellent anti-interference ability against electroactive species and metal ions. In addition, validation of the applicability of the presented sensor was also performed for the determination of three phenols in tap water sample with satisfactory results.
authors.affiliation: School of Chemical Engineering, Nanjing University of Science and Technology, Nanjing 210094, PR China.
authors.forename: Juanjuan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Gao
authors.affiliation: School of Chemical Engineering, Nanjing University of Science and Technology, Nanjing 210094, PR China.
authors.forename: Maoxiang
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Pollution Control and Resource Reuse, School of the Environment, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210023, PR China. Electronic address: songhaiou2011@126.com.
authors.forename: Haiou
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Song
authors.affiliation: School of Chemical Engineering, Nanjing University of Science and Technology, Nanjing 210094, PR China; State Key Laboratory of Pollution Control and Resource Reuse, School of the Environment, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210023, PR China. Electronic address: shupeng_2006@126.com.
authors.forename: Shupeng
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: School of Chemical Engineering, Nanjing University of Science and Technology, Nanjing 210094, PR China.
authors.forename: Yueyue
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Qian
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Pollution Control and Resource Reuse, School of the Environment, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210023, PR China. Electronic address: liaimin@nju.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Aimin
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Li
mesh_terms: D002384:Catalysis; D003505:Cyclodextrins / Q000737:chemistry*; D055664:Electrochemical Techniques; D004784:Environmental Monitoring; D006108:Graphite / Q000737:chemistry*; D057230:Limit of Detection; D043942:Nanotubes / Q000737:chemistry*; D037742:Nanotubes, Carbon; D010636:Phenols / Q000032:analysis*; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity
chemical_list: D003505:Cyclodextrins; D037742:Nanotubes, Carbon; D010636:Phenols; D006108:Graphite
keywords: Carbon nanotube; Cyclodextrin; Environmental monitoring; Phenol; Reduced graphene