title: Electrocatalytic Detection of Amitrole on the Multi-Walled Carbon Nanotube - Iron (II) tetra-aminophthalocyanine Platform.
abstract: It is shown that iron(II) tetra-aminophthalocyanine complex electropolymerized onto a multi-walled carbon nanotube-modified basal plane pyrolytic graphite electrode greatly enhanced the electrocatalytic detetion of amitrole (a toxic herbicide), resulting in a very low detection limit (0.5 nM) and excellent sensitivity of 8.80±0.44 μA/nM, compared to any known work reported so far. The electrocatalytic detection of amitrole at this electrode occurred at less positive potential (~0.3 V vs Ag|ACl) and also revealed a typical coupled chemical reaction. The mechanism for this response is proposed. The electrode gave satisfactory selectivity to amitrole in the presence of other potential interfering pesticides in aqueous solutions.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, Rhodes University, Grahamstown 6140, South Africa. msiswana@wsu.ac.za.
authors.forename: Msimelelo
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Siswana
authors.affiliation: Molecular and Nanomaterials Electrochemistry Laboratory, Department of Chemistry, University of Pretoria, Pretoria 0002, South Africa. kenneth.ozoemena@up.ac.za.
authors.forename: Kenneth I
authors.initials: KI
authors.lastname: Ozoemena
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, Rhodes University, Grahamstown 6140, South Africa. t.nyokong@ru.ac.za.
authors.forename: Tebello
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Nyokong
keywords: Amitrole; basal plane pyrolytic graphite electrode; electropolymerization; multi walled carbon nanotubes; tetra-aminophthalocyanine