Electrochemical behavior of eugenol on TiO2 nanotubes improved with Cu2O clusters

Abstract

TiO₂ nanotubes incorporated with Cu₂O clusters (Cu₂O-TiNTs) were synthesized and employed as a probe for the rapid and sensitive voltammetric determination of eugenol. The electrochemical behavior of eugenol on the electrodes modified with Cu₂O-TiNTs was explored systematically using cyclic voltammetry as a function of concentration of eugenol, scan rate, Cu₂O content, and calcination temperature, respectively. Furthermore, the electrochemical response mechanism on these modified electrodes was discussed preliminarily. The results indicate that the electrodes coated with Cu₂O-TiNTs possess high sensitivity to eugenol with a detectable concentration of 1.3 × 10⁻⁶ mol L⁻¹. Here, the tubular structure of TiO₂ nanotubes plays a key role in the electrochemical performance of Cu₂O-TiNTs. The TiO₂ nanotubes serve as an electron-transfer channel to enhance the electron transfer between eugenol molecules and electrode surface. Meanwhile, the Cu₂O clusters serve as a promoter to further make the electron transfer more efficient and as a stabilizer to avoid change of the tubular structure of TiO₂ nanotubes during calcination.