Cadmium-sensitive measurement using a nano-copper-enhanced carbon fiber electrode

Abstract

Enrichment of cadmium ion (Cd2+) from the environment may lead to kidney disease and weakened immunity in the body. Current techniques are not convenient enough to measure Cd2+ concentration in the environment due to low sensitivity and poor linear range. In this paper, a new measurement technique is proposed using a new sensing electrode made of nano-copper-enhanced carbon fiber. Nano-copper was deposited onto the surface of carbon fiber to enhance the current concentration and mass transfer rate of Cd2+ during measurement, which improved the electrochemical detection sensitivity significantly (by up to 3.7 × 108 nA/nM) and broadened the linear range to 10~105 nM. This device provides a low-cost solution for measuring Cd2+ concentration in the environment.