Preparation of ZnO-loaded lignin-based carbon fiber for the electrocatalytic oxidation of hydroquinone

Abstract

To improve the hydroquinone (HQ) determination limit in wastewater and contribute to the comprehensive utilization of lignin, a zinc oxide-loaded lignin-based carbon fiber (ZCF) was prepared by a combination of electrospinning and thermal treatment processes, and was applied in electrocatalytic oxidation of HQ using cyclic voltammetry (CV). The characterization of composites was conducted by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and energy dispersive spectrometer (EDS). The CV curves demonstrate that a ZCF-modified electrode can efficiently enhance the electrochemical signal and provide a fast response to HQ with a linear range from 1 × 10−6 to 5 × 10−3 mol/L and a determination limit of 2.5 × 10−7 M. Compared with modification materials reported in other literature, it performs excellent. In addition, the effect of the scan rate and the stability of modified materials were also investigated to illustrate the electrochemical behavior on HQ determination. Under optimum conditions, the ZCF-modified electrode was also used for the simultaneous determination of HQ, catechol (CC), and resorcinol (RS), which could well separate the oxidation peaks of the three isomers.