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In situ formed zinc oxide/graphitic carbon nitride nanohybrid for the electrochemical determination of 4-nitrophenol

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Abstract

The electrochemical determination of 4-nitrophenol using a nanohybrid consisting of glassy carbon (GC) and zinc oxide/graphitic carbon nitride (ZnO/g-CN nanosheet), is described. The ZnO/g-CN nanohybrid was in situ synthesized by chemical method and well characterized using absorption spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and transmission electron microscopic analysis. It was observed that the nanosized ZnO particles were present inside the sheet-like g-CN nanostructure. The nanohybrid-modified electrode showed an enhanced electrocatalytic response for 4-nitrophenol reduction compared with the bare GC electrode. The assay exhibited linear ranges of 13.4–100 μM and 100–1000 μM for 4-NP determination. The limit of detection and limit of quantification were 4.0 and 13.4 μM, respectively, at the working potential of − 0.85 V. An appreciable precision was found towards the stability of the assay in the determination. It provides selectivity against inorganic and organic substances such as calcium chloride, potassium chloride, nitrobenzene, uric acid, 1-chloro,2,4-dinitrobenzene, 1-bromo,2-nitrobenzene and 1-iodo,2-nitrobenzene. The practical applicability of the assay was also checked in the analysis of real water samples and satisfactory recovery of 4-NP was found.

Schematic representation of the synthesis of zinc oxide (ZnO) nanostructures incorporated graphitic carbon nitride nanosheets (g-C3N4 NSs) and its application in the voltammetric determination of 4-nitrophenol (4-NP) is presented. The nanohybrid assay showed selectivity among coexisting compounds and good recovery in real sample analysis.

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Acknowledgements

APK thanks SERB-DST for financial support through the Early Career Research (ECRA) Award (SERB File No.: ECR/2017/001758). The authors thank CIF, CSIR-CECRI for the instrumentation facilities.

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  1. Kizhepat Shamsa and Peter Selvaraj Mary Rajaitha contributed equally to this work.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Electro Organic and Materials Electrochemistry (EME) Division, CSIR-Central Electrochemical Research Institute, Karaikudi, Tamil Nadu, 630 003, India

    Kizhepat Shamsa, Peter Selvaraj Mary Rajaitha, Selvaraj Vinoth, Chinnan Murugan & Alagarsamy Pandikumar

  2. Academy of Scientific and Innovative Research (AcSIR), Ghaziabad, 201002, India

    Selvaraj Vinoth, Chinnan Murugan & Alagarsamy Pandikumar

  3. Department of Chemistry, School of Advanced Sciences, Kalasalingam Academy of Research and Education, Krishnankoil, Tamil Nadu, 626 126, India

    Perumal Rameshkumar

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  1. Kizhepat Shamsa
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Shamsa, K., Rajaitha, P.S.M., Vinoth, S. et al. In situ formed zinc oxide/graphitic carbon nitride nanohybrid for the electrochemical determination of 4-nitrophenol. Microchim Acta 187, 552 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00604-020-04525-y

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