Electrochemical Sensors for Detection of Phenol in Oilfield Wastewater Using TiO2/CNTs nanocomposite Modified Glassy Carbon Electrode

Abstract

This study focused on the straightforward fabrication of a TiO2 and carbon nanotube nanocomposite utilizing the electrodeposition method on GCE (TiO2/CNTs/GCE) as a sensitive and versatile electrochemical sensor for phenol determination in oilfield wastewater samples. The simultaneous electrodeposition of well-crystalline TiO2 nanoparticles and CNTs on the electrode surface was successfully predicted by structural and morphological analyses. A linear range of 0 to 200 μM, a sensitivity of 0.04408μA/μM, and a detection limit of 0.005 μM were determined for TiO2/CNTs/GCE after electrochemical studies using the DPV technique showed that the synergistic effects of the CNTs and TiO2 nanoparticles improved the catalytic reactions for determining phenol and enhanced the sensitivity and specificity the phenol sensor. According to comparisons with recently reported phenol sensors, TiO2/CNTs/GCE was a wide linear range phenol electrochemical sensor with an appropriate detection limit value. The TiO2/CNTs/GCE phenol sensor was used to analyze the accuracy and applicability of the sensor by measuring the amount of phenol in actual samples made from oilfield wastewater. The results demonstrated appropriate recovery (more than 99.25%) and RSD values (less than 4.52%), which demonstrated the accuracy and viability of TiO2/CNTs/GCE for phenol level assessment in oilfield wastewater samples. The results showed good agreement between the results from DPV measurements and Phenol Colorimetric Assay Kit assays.