Abstract
A new sensor based on decorated copper nanoparticles and self-assembled graphene was fabricated and exemplified with the determination of nitrate solutions. Traditionally, graphene is coated on the sensor by drop-casting, leading to poor adhesion between graphene and the sensor. The self-assembled graphene proposed in this paper not only have a firm connection with the substrate, but also provide a three-dimensional network structure for copper nanoparticles. Copper was found as an effective catalyst for nitrate reduction. The combination of copper nanoparticles and self-assembled graphene can greatly enhance the sensitivity. Thus, low detection limit of 7.89 µM is obtained for nitrate, which to our knowledge, is among the lowest reported in the literatures. This method was employed for the determination of nitrate in lake water and the results were in good agreement with those obtained from a standard analytical procedure.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Bard AJ, Faulkner LR (1980) Electrochemical methods: fundamentals and applications. Wiley, New York
Bockris J, Kim J (1996) Electrochemical reductions of Hg(II), ruthenium-nitrosyl complex, chromate, and nitrate in a strong alkaline solution. J Electrochem Soc 143:3801–3808
Camargo JA, Alonso A, Salamanca A (2005) Nitrate toxicity to aquatic animals: a review with new data for freshwater invertebrates. Chemosphere 58:1255–1267. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chemosphere.2004.10.044
Campanella L, Colapicchioni C, Crescentini G et al (1995) Sensitive membrane ISFETs for nitrate analysis in waters. Sens Actuators B Chem 27:329–335. https://doi.org/10.1016/0925-4005(94)01612-L
Carpenter NG, Pletcher D (1995) Amperometric method for the determination of nitrate in water. Anal Chim Acta 317:287–293
Chandrasekaran S, Seidel C, Schulte K (2013) Preparation and characterization of graphite nano-platelet (GNP)/epoxy nano-composite: mechanical, electrical and thermal properties. Eur Polym J 49:3878–3888. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eurpolymj.2013.10.008
Crawford NM (1995) Nitrate: nutrient and signal for plant growth. Plant Cell Online 7:859–868. https://doi.org/10.1105/tpc.7.7.859
Genders JD, Hartsough D, Hobbs DT (1996) Electrochemical reduction of nitrates and nitrites in alkaline nuclear waste solutions. J Appl Electrochem 26:1–9. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00248182
World Health Organization (2008) Guidelines for drinking water quality, 3rd edn. World Health Organization, Geneva
Gulis G, Czompolyova M, Cerhan JR (2002) An ecologic study of nitrate in municipal drinking water and cancer incidence in Trnava District, Slovakia. Environ Res 88:182–187. https://doi.org/10.1006/enrs.2002.4331
Hu J, Sun J, Bian C et al (2013) 3D dendritic nanostructure of silver-array: preparation, growth mechanism and application in nitrate sensor. Electroanalysis 25:546–556. https://doi.org/10.1002/elan.201200465
Huang H, Tao L, Liu F et al (2016) Chemical-sensitive graphene modulator with a memory effect for internet-of-things applications. Microsyst Nanoeng 2:1–9. https://doi.org/10.1038/micronano.2016.18
Kazemzadeh A, Ensafi AA (2001) Simultaneous determination of nitrite and nitrate in various samples using flow-injection spectrophotometric detection. Microchem J 69:61–68. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0026-265X(01)00072-8
Keawkim K, Chuanuwatanakul S, Chailapakul O, Motomizu S (2013) Determination of lead and cadmium in rice samples by sequential injection/anodic stripping voltammetry using a bismuth film/crown ether/Nafion modified screen-printed carbon electrode. Food Control 31:14–21. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodcont.2012.09.025
Knobeloch L, Salna B, Hogan A et al (2000) Blue babies and nitrate-contaminated well water. Environ Health Perspect 108:675–678. https://doi.org/10.1289/ehp.00108675
Lee YS (2006) Factors affecting outbreaks of high-density Cochlodinium polykrikoides red tides in the coastal seawaters around Yeosu and Tongyeong, Korea. Mar Pollut Bull 52:1249–1259. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpolbul.2006.02.024
Liu S, Tian J, Wang L et al (2011) Self-assembled graphene platelet-glucose oxidase nanostructures for glucose biosensing. Biosens Bioelectron 26:4491–4496. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bios.2011.05.008
Lopez-Moreno C, Perez IV, Urbano AM (2016) Development and validation of an ionic chromatography method for the determination of nitrate, nitrite and chloride in meat. Food Chem 194:687–694. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodchem.2015.08.017
Luo Y, Kong D, Jia Y et al (2013) Self-assembled graphene@PANI nanoworm composites with enhanced supercapacitor performance. RSC Adv 3:5851. https://doi.org/10.1039/c3ra00151b
Masserini RT, Fanning KA (2000) A sensor package for the simultaneous determination of nanomolar concentrations of nitrite, nitrate, and ammonia in seawater by fluorescence detection. Mar Chem 68:323–333. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0304-4203(99)00088-2
Nazoa P, Vidmar JJ, Tranbarger TJ et al (2003) Regulation of the nitrate transporter gene AtNRT2.1 in Arabidopsis thaliana: responses to nitrate, amino acids and developmental stage. Plant Mol Biol 52:689–703. https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1024899808018
Pletcher D, Poorabedi Z (1979) The reduction of nitrate at a copper cathode in aqueous acid. Electrochim Acta 24:1253–1256. https://doi.org/10.1016/0013-4686(79)87081-4
Sayer RM, Gatherer RDB, Gilham RJJ, Reid JP (2003) Determination and validation of water droplet size distributions probed by cavity enhanced Raman scattering. Phys Chem Chem Phys 5:3732. https://doi.org/10.1039/b304599d
Shen J, Hu Y, Li C et al (2009) Layer-by-layer self-assembly of graphene nanoplatelets. Langmuir 25:6122–6128. https://doi.org/10.1021/la900126g
Solak AO, Pi Gülser, Gökm E, Gökmesşe F (2000) A new differential pulse voltammetric method for the determination of nitrate at a copper plated glassy carbon electrode. Microchim Acta 134:77–82. https://doi.org/10.1007/s006040070057
Stortini AM, Moretto LM, Mardegan A et al (2015) Arrays of copper nanowire electrodes: preparation, characterization and application as nitrate sensor. Sens Actuators B Chem 207:186–192. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.snb.2014.09.109
Ward-Jones S, Banks CE, Simm AO et al (2005) An in situ copper plated boron-doped diamond microelectrode array for the sensitive electrochemical detection of nitrate. Electroanalysis 17:1806–1815. https://doi.org/10.1002/elan.200503316
Zeng Q, Cheng J, Tang L et al (2010) Self-assembled graphene-enzyme hierarchical nanostructures for electrochemical biosensing. Adv Funct Mater 20:3366–3372. https://doi.org/10.1002/adfm.201000540
Zhang B, Cui T (2012) High-perfermance and low-cost ion sensitive sensor array based on self-assembled graphene. Sens Actuators A Phys 177:110–114. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sna.2011.09.003
Zhang D, Wang K, Tong J, Xia B (2014) Characterization of layer-by-layer nano self-assembled carbon nanotube/polymer film sensor for ethanol gas sensing properties. Microsyst Technol 20:379–385. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00542-013-1943-4
Acknowledgements
One of the authors acknowledges the support from China Scholarship Council. The devices are fabricated at Minnesota Nano Center, Minneapolis, MN, USA.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Wang, L., Kim, J. & Cui, T. Self-assembled graphene and copper nanoparticles composite sensor for nitrate determination. Microsyst Technol 24, 3623–3630 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00542-018-3792-7
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00542-018-3792-7