Mixed oxides CuO-NiO fabricated for selective detection of 2-Aminophenol by electrochemical approach

Abstract

New heterometallic complex [NiCu(NO3)2(H2O)2] (1) was prepared via the reaction of aqueous solutions of (oxalic acid, nickel nitrate and copper nitrate). Mixed oxide CuO-NiO was successfully obtained with different morphological structures (2) and (3) through the annealing of 1 at different temperature 300 °C and 600 °C, respectively. The materials were characterized using FT-IR, TGA, XRD and SEM. As showed from XRD data, with increasing the calcination temperature the crystallinity of CuO-NiO in sample 3 was improved and the diffraction peaks exhibited narrower and stronger than CuO-NiO in sample 2. The average size of CuO-NiO crystals obtained was calculated from Debye-Scherrer equation and found to be 16.65 nm. To assemble the working electrode of 2-aminophenol (2-AP) chemical sensor, a thin layer of CuO-NiO NPs was deposited on glassy carbon electrode (GCE) with conducting binder and used to detect 2-AP in aqueous medium successfully. The chemical sensor is exhibited the higher stability, good sensitivity (20.2729 μAmM−1 cm−2) and enhanced electrochemical activity at room conditions. Therefore, the fabricated chemical sensor with active CuO-NiO NPs may be an effective and sensitive sensor for detection of hazardous materials by reliable I–V method for broad scales environmental safety of and healthcare sectors.