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Electroactive Manganese Oxide–Reduced Graphene Oxide Interfaced Electrochemical Detection of Urea

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Abstract

Urea, being a nitrogen fertilizer, is crucial for plant growth but when excessively provided (above biuret 2% levels specified by the World Health Organization), plant characteristics are deeply affected. A real-time sensor to check the presence of excess urea in plants is therefore necessary. Towards this goal, a manganese oxide–reduced graphene oxide composite was synthesized by modified Hummer’s method and precipitation techniques, which was subsequently used as a nano-interface to immobilize urease enzyme for specific detection of urea. The synthesized nanocomposite helped in shuttling of electrons between the redox species and in enhanced electron transfer rate due to their high surface area, vindicated by their structural and morphological characterization using X-ray diffractometer (XRD), scanning electron microscope (SEM), and X-ray photoelectron spectrometer (XPS), and electrochemical characterization using cyclic voltammetry and amperometry, respectively. The fabricated biosensor for urea exhibited a linear range of 5–100 μM with a sensitivity of 9.7 × 10−3 μA μM−1, limit of detection of 14.693 μM, and a response time of 118 s.

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Acknowledgments

The authors are grateful to SERB, Department of Science and Technology, New Delhi, for their financial support (EMR/2016/001789 dated 13/01/2017).We also acknowledge SASTRA Deemed University, Thanjavur, for extending infrastructural support to carry out the study.

Funding

This study received financial support from SERB, Department of Science and Technology, New Delhi, (EMR/2016/001789 dated 13/01/2017).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Chemical and Biotechnology, SASTRA Deemed University, Thanjavur, Tamil Nadu, 613 401, India

    Priyannth Ramasami Sundhar Baabu & Noel Nesakumar

  2. Centre for Nanotechnology & Advanced Biomaterials (CeNTAB), SASTRA Deemed University, Thanjavur, Tamil Nadu, 613 401, India

    Priyannth Ramasami Sundhar Baabu, Noel Nesakumar, John Bosco Balaguru Rayappan & Arockia Jayalatha Kulandaisamy

  3. Department of Physics, National Institute of Technology, Tiruchirappalli, 620 015, India

    Manju Bhargavi Gumpu

  4. School of Electrical & Electronics Engineering, SASTRA Deemed University, Thanjavur, Tamil Nadu, 613 401, India

    John Bosco Balaguru Rayappan & Arockia Jayalatha Kulandaisamy

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  1. Priyannth Ramasami Sundhar Baabu
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Correspondence to Arockia Jayalatha Kulandaisamy.

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Ramasami Sundhar Baabu, P., Gumpu, M.B., Nesakumar, N. et al. Electroactive Manganese Oxide–Reduced Graphene Oxide Interfaced Electrochemical Detection of Urea. Water Air Soil Pollut 231, 545 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11270-020-04899-y

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