One-pot preparation of wavy graphene/Au composites and their application for highly sensitive detection of nitrite

Abstract

The detection of nitrite is vital for environmental conservation and public health. In this study, high surface area nanoclusters of wavy graphene/Au composites (w-GN/Au) were synthesized by a one-step hydrothermal method and utilized for the detection of nitrite. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and Raman spectroscopy were used to characterize the structure and constituents of 3D-GN/Au. The effectiveness of w-GN/Au composites as the accelerant for the determination of nitrite was assessed via Cyclic Voltammetry (CV). The results showed that the reaction current for nitrite detection obtained at the composite electrode had greatly improved compared to that obtained using the bare electrode. Within the optimal conditions, the oxidation peak currents of nitrite had an excellent linear correlation in the range of 1.0 × 10⁻⁷ to 5.0 × 10⁻³ mol L⁻¹ with a detection limit of 6.0 × 10⁻⁸ mol L⁻¹via differential pulse voltammetric (DPV). Based on these findings, we could draw the conclusion that these modified materials could be utilized for constituting an electrochemical sensor to develop an excellent method for the detection nitrite in real samples, namely, tap water and sausage, with acceptable recovery.