Development of NiCoO2 Nanoparticles based Electrochemical Sensor with Extremely Low Detection for Hazardous 4-Nitrophenol

Abstract

In this study, we report the synthesis of Nickel Cobalt Oxide (NiCoO2) nanoparticles by the solution combustion method using Citric acid, Glycine, Urea, and Glucose as green fuels, for the electrochemical detection of 4-nitrophenol (4-NP). The synthesized NiCoO2 nanoparticles were characterized using X-ray diffraction (XRD), Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) and Energy Dispersive X-ray Analysis (EDAX). It was found from XRD and SEM, that the NiCoO2 synthesized using urea as a fuel had smallest crystalline size and promising morphology as a result, it exhibited very good electrochemical sensing capability. Cyclic Voltammetry (CV) was employed to investigate the electrochemical behavior of the synthesized NiCoO2 nanoparticles towards 4-Nitrophenol (4-NP) detection. It was found that the NiCoO2 nanoparticles prepared by using urea exhibited a strong electrochemical response towards the detection of 4-NP, with a linear range of 10–100 μl and the lowest detection limit of 6.71 nM. Overall, the NiCoO2 nanoparticles synthesized using the solution combustion method showed an excellent potential for the detection of hazardous 4-NP, which could be further employed for environmental pollutant sensing applications.