CeO2–MWCNT nanocomposite based electrochemical sensor for acetaldehyde

Abstract

The present study endeavours to build a new, highly sensitive and selective electrochemical sensor with a CeO₂–MWCNT nanocomposite film, which enhances the sensing platform to detect acetaldehyde. The chemically synthesised CeO₂ nanoparticles were subjected to adsorption on MWCNTs. Thus the prepared nanocomposite was characterized by XRD, SEM and impedance spectroscopy. The drop to drop method was employed in the preparation of the CeO₂–MWCNT modified glassy carbon electrode which could sense nanomolar levels of acetaldehyde by cyclic voltammetry. Under optimal conditions, the developed sensor detected acetaldehyde in the concentration range of 10⁻⁸ to 10⁻⁵ M with a detection limit of 7.4 × 10⁻⁹ M, accompanied with a good precision of 1.6% at 10⁻⁶ M of acetaldehyde. Moreover, it exhibited reasonably good selectivity towards acetaldehyde in conjunction with different co-existing organic species and was successfully applied to synthetic fruit juice samples.