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Voltammetric determination of catechol and hydroquinone using nitrogen-doped multiwalled carbon nanotubes modified with nickel nanoparticles

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Abstract

Nitrogen-doped multiwalled carbon nanotubes modified with nickel nanoparticles (Ni/N-MWCNT) were prepared by a thermal reduction process starting from urea and Ni(II) salt in an inert atmosphere. The nanocomposite was deposited on a screen printed electrode and characterized by X-ray diffraction, scanning and transmission electron microscopy, nitrogen adsorption, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, and thermogravimetric analyses. The performance of the composite was investigated by cyclic voltammetry, differential pulse voltammetry and chronoamperometry. The numerous active metal sites with fast electron transfer properties result in enhanced electrocatalytic activity towards the individual and simultaneous detection of catechol (CC) and hydroquinone (HQ), best at 0.21 V for CC and 0.11 V for HQ (vs. Ag/AgCl). For both targets the detection limit (S/N of 3) was 9 nM (CC) and 11 nM (HQ), and the Ni/N-MWCNT-electrode showed linear response from 0.1–300 μM CC, and 0.3–300 μM HQ. The electrode is selective over many potentially interfering ions. It was applied to the analysis of spiked water samples and gave satisfactory recoveries. It also is sensitive for CC (5.396 μA·μM−1 cm−2) and HQ (5.1577 μA·μM−1 cm−2), highly active, durable, acceptably repeatable and highly reproducible.

Voltammetric determination of catechol and hydroquinone using nitrogen-doped multiwalled carbon nanotubes modified with nickel nanoparticles.

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Acknowledgments

The authors are grateful for the financial support (MOST 106-2113-M-027-003-MY3 to S.M.C; MOST-102-2113-M-002-009-MY3 to KCL) from the Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST), Taiwan.

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Author notes

  1. Chellakannu Rajkumar and Balamurugan Thirumalraj contributed equally to this work.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology, National Taipei University of Technology, Taipei, 10608, Taiwan

    Chellakannu Rajkumar, Balamurugan Thirumalraj & Shen-Ming Chen

  2. Department of Chemical Engineering, National Taiwan University of Science and Technology, Taipei, 10607, Taiwan

    Balamurugan Thirumalraj

  3. Department of Chemistry, National Taiwan University, Taipei, 10617, Taiwan

    Pitchaimani Veerakumar & King-Chuen Lin

  4. Institute of Atomic and Molecular Sciences, Academia Sinica, Taipei, 10617, Taiwan

    Pitchaimani Veerakumar & King-Chuen Lin

Authors
  1. Chellakannu Rajkumar
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  2. Balamurugan Thirumalraj
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  3. Shen-Ming Chen
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  4. Pitchaimani Veerakumar
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  5. King-Chuen Lin
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Correspondence to Shen-Ming Chen.

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Rajkumar, C., Thirumalraj, B., Chen, SM. et al. Voltammetric determination of catechol and hydroquinone using nitrogen-doped multiwalled carbon nanotubes modified with nickel nanoparticles. Microchim Acta 185, 395 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00604-018-2926-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00604-018-2926-z

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