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Selective and simultaneous detection of cadmium, lead and copper by tapioca-derived carbon dot–modified electrode

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Abstract

The need for the sensing of environmental pollutants cannot be overemphasized in the twenty-first century. Herein, a sensor has been developed for the sensitive and selective detection of copper (Cu2+), lead (Pb2+) and cadmium (Cd2+) as major heavy metals polluting water environment. A screen-printed carbon electrode (SPCE) modified by fluorescent carbon dots (CDs) and gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) was successfully fabricated for sensing Cu2+, Pb2+ and Cd2+. Differential pulse voltammetry (DPV) and cyclic voltammetry (CV) were deployed for the analysis of ternary analytes. CV was set at a potential range of − 0.8 to + 0.2 V at a scan rate of 100 mV/s, and DPV at a potential range of − 0.8 to + 0.1 V, scan rate of 50 mV/s, pulse rate of 0.2 V and pulse width of 50 ms. DPV technique was applied through the modified electrode for sensitive and selective determination of Cu2+, Pb2+ and Cd2+ at a concentration range of 0.01 to 0.27 ppm for Cu2+, Pb2+ and Cd2+. Tolerance for the highest possible concentration of foreign substances such as Mg2+, K+, Na+, NO3−, and SO42− was observed with a relative error less than ± 3%. The sensitivity of the modified electrode was at 0.17, 0.42 and 0.18 ppm for Cd2+, Pb2+ and Cu2+, respectively, while the limits of detection (LOD) achieved for cadmium, lead and copper were 0.0028, 0.0042 and 0.014 ppm, respectively. The quality of the modified electrode for sensing Cu2+, Pb2+ and Cd2+ at trace levels is in accordance with the World Health Organization (WHO) and Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) water regulation standard. The modified SPCE provides a cost-effective, dependable and stable means of detecting heavy metal ions (Cu2+, Pb2+ and Cd2+) in an aqueous solution.

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Funding

This research is funded by the Universiti Putra Malaysia, Malaysia, under the GP-IPS/2017/9556800 grant.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Chemical and Environmental Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Universiti Putra Malaysia, 43400, Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia

    Musa Yahaya Pudza, Zurina Zainal Abidin, Suraya Abdul-Rashid & Faizah Md Yasin

  2. Department of Computer and Communication Systems Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Universiti Putra Malaysia, 43400, Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia

    Ahmad Shukri Muhammad Noor

  3. Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science, Universiti Putra Malaysia, 43400, Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia

    Jaafar Abdullah

Authors
  1. Musa Yahaya Pudza
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  2. Zurina Zainal Abidin
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  3. Suraya Abdul-Rashid
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  4. Faizah Md Yasin
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  5. Ahmad Shukri Muhammad Noor
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  6. Jaafar Abdullah
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Zurina Zainal Abidin.

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Pudza, M.Y., Abidin, Z.Z., Abdul-Rashid, S. et al. Selective and simultaneous detection of cadmium, lead and copper by tapioca-derived carbon dot–modified electrode. Environ Sci Pollut Res 27, 13315–13324 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-020-07695-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-020-07695-7

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