Palladium nanoparticles decorated SnO2 wrapped MWCNT nanocomposites as a highly efficient H2O2 electrocatalyst

Abstract

Owing to the broad application of hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂) in various fields, the significance of selective and sensitive detection of H₂O₂ were adequately realized. Therefore, a lower cost, environmentally friendly, and high catalytic activity sensing platform towards H₂O₂ needs to be exploited and studied. In this work, carboxyl-functionalized multi-walled carbon nanotubes were clad in tin dioxide (with thickness of ∼10 nm) and decorated with palladium nanoparticles (∼20 nm) via a simple solvothermal method. A H₂O₂ sensor-based Pd–SnO₂@MWCNTs nanocomposite was fabricated and exhibited a wide linear range of 0.01–50 mM with a low detection limit of 2.8 μM and high sensitivity of 46.1 μA mM⁻¹ cm⁻² (S/N = 3). The sensor also presented a high anti-interference, good stability, and good performance detecting H₂O₂ in disinfectant samples. Our synthesis strategy perhaps may provide a novel idea for fabricating other electrochemical sensors.