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Sensing of picric acid with a glassy carbon electrode modified with CuS nanoparticles deposited on nitrogen-doped reduced graphene oxide

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Abstract

We describe the preparation of a nanohybrid consisting of nitrogen doped reduced graphene oxide and CuS nanoparticles (N-rGO/CuS) by in-situ microwave irradiation at weight ratios of 25/75, 50/50, and 75/25. The resulting nanohybrids were characterized by X-ray diffraction, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, FTIR, spectroscopy, scanning electron and transmission electron microscopy, electrochemically by cyclic voltammetry and electrochemical impedance analysis. It is shown that the CuS nanoparticles are evenly decorated onto the N-rGO surface. The nanohybrids was placed on glassy carbon electrode (GCE) where they showed electro-reductive activity towards picric acid, typically at working voltages between −0.2 and −0.8 V (vs. SCE). Effects of pH value and scan rate were evaluated, and it is shown that two electrons are involved in electro-reduction. The detection limits of the GCE modified with various N-rGO/CuS hybrids (with 25/75, 50/50, and 75/25 wt%) are 6.2, 3.2, and 0.069 μM respectively. The method demonstrates its applicability in sensing of picric acid with good reproducibility.

Nitrogen doped reduced graphene oxide nanohybrids was synthesized for the detection of picric acid. A straightforward and preconcentration free analysis of picric acid was successfully demonstrated at nanomolar levels using the nanohybrids.

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Acknowledgments

K. Giribabu thanks the Department of Science and Technology (DST), Government of India for financial assistance in the form of INSPIRE fellowship (Inspire Fellow no: 10226) under the AORC scheme. The authors gratefully acknowledge the financial support received from the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) grant by the Korea government Ministry of Education, Science and Technology (MEST) (NRF-2014R1A5A1009799). The authors also acknowledge the National Centre for Nanoscience and Nanotechnology (NCNSNT), University of Madras for conducting XPS, FESEM and HRTEM analyses.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Inorganic Chemistry, University of Madras, Guindy Campus, Chennai, -600025, India

    Krishnan Giribabu, Sivakumar Praveen Kumar, Ramadoss Manigandan, Settu Munusamy, Govindhan Gnanamoorthy & Vengidusamy Narayanan

  2. Department of Biological Engineering, Biohybrid Systems Research Center (BSRC), Inha University, Incheon, 402-751, Republic of Korea

    Krishnan Giribabu, Seo Yeong Oh, Jun Yeong Kim & Yun Suk Huh

  3. Department of Chemistry, SRM University, Ramapuram Campus, Chennai, −600 116, India

    Ranganathan Suresh

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  1. Krishnan Giribabu
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Correspondence to Yun Suk Huh or Vengidusamy Narayanan.

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Krishnan Giribabu and Seo Yeong Oh contributed equally to this work

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Giribabu, K., Oh, S.Y., Suresh, R. et al. Sensing of picric acid with a glassy carbon electrode modified with CuS nanoparticles deposited on nitrogen-doped reduced graphene oxide. Microchim Acta 183, 2421–2430 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00604-016-1883-7

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