Electrochemical detection of phenanthrene using nickel oxide doped PANI nanofiber based modified electrodes

Abstract

A nickel oxide doped polyaniline nanofibers (PANI-NiO) based electrochemical sensor was constructed for detection of phenanthrene. Successful synthesis of PANI-NiO nanocomposite was confirmed with techniques such as SEM, XRD, EDX, FTIR, and UV-visible spectroscopy. The electrocatalytic oxidation of phenanthrene on PANI-NiO on modified glassy carbon electrode (GCE-PANI-NiO) was studied using cyclic voltammetry, square wave voltammetry, and impedance spectroscopy and discussed. Results showed that detection of phenanthrene was enhanced by the nanostructure of PANI-NiO film. The square wave voltammetry analysis shows a very low detection limit of 0.732 pM for phenanthrene with the linear range of 7.6 pM-1.4 × 10-11 M. The Tafel value of 227 mVdec-1 suggests adsorption of phenanthrene oxidation intermediates on the GCE-PANI-NiO electrode. The GCE-PANI-NiO modified electrodes gave better performance towards phenanthrene in terms of current response, oxidation potential, current recovery, stability, and resistance to electrode fouling effects.