Copper Micro-Flowers for Electrocatalytic Sensing of Nitrate Ions in Water
Roberta Farina,
Giuseppe D’Arrigo,
Alessandra Alberti,
Silvia Scalese,
Giuseppe E. Capuano,
Domenico Corso,
Giuseppe A. Screpis,
Maria Anna Coniglio,
Guglielmo G. Condorelli,
Sebania Libertino
Affiliations
Roberta Farina
IMM–CNR, Strada VIII Z.I., 5, 95121 Catania, Italy
Giuseppe D’Arrigo
IMM–CNR, Strada VIII Z.I., 5, 95121 Catania, Italy
Alessandra Alberti
IMM–CNR, Strada VIII Z.I., 5, 95121 Catania, Italy
Silvia Scalese
IMM–CNR, Strada VIII Z.I., 5, 95121 Catania, Italy
Giuseppe E. Capuano
IMM–CNR, Strada VIII Z.I., 5, 95121 Catania, Italy
Domenico Corso
IMM–CNR, Strada VIII Z.I., 5, 95121 Catania, Italy
Giuseppe A. Screpis
Dipartimento di Scienze Mediche, Chirurgiche e Tecnologie Avanzate “G.F. Ingrassia”, Università Degli Studi di Catania, Via S. Sofia 87, 95123 Catania, Italy
Maria Anna Coniglio
Dipartimento di Scienze Mediche, Chirurgiche e Tecnologie Avanzate “G.F. Ingrassia”, Università Degli Studi di Catania, Via S. Sofia 87, 95123 Catania, Italy
Guglielmo G. Condorelli
Dipartimento di Scienze Chimiche, Università Degli Studi di Catania, Viale A. Doria 6, 95125 Catania, Italy
Sebania Libertino
IMM–CNR, Strada VIII Z.I., 5, 95121 Catania, Italy
The progressive increase in nitrate’s (NO3−) presence in surface and groundwater enhances environmental and human health risks. The aim of this work is the fabrication and characterization of sensitive, real-time, low-cost, and portable amperometric sensors for low NO3− concentration detection in water. Copper (Cu) micro-flowers were electrodeposited on top of carbon screen-printed electrodes (SPCEs) via cyclic voltammetry (with voltage ranging from −1.0 V to 0.0 V at a scan rate of 0.1 V s−1). The obtained sensors exhibited a high catalytic activity toward the electro-reduction in NO3−, with a sensitivity of 44.71 μA/mM. They had a limit of detection of 0.87 µM and a good dynamic linear concentration range from 0.05 to 3 mM. The results were compared to spectrophotometric analysis. In addition, the devices exhibited good stability and a maximum standard deviation (RSD) of 5% after ten measurements; reproducibility, with a maximum RSD of 4%; and repeatability after 10 measurements with the RSD at only 5.63%.
