Synergistic catalysis of N vacancies and ∼5 nm Au nanoparticles promoted the highly sensitive electrochemical determination of lead(ii) using an Au/N-deficient-C3N4 nanocomposite. Issue 6 (7th May 2019)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Xiao, Xiang-Yu; Chen, Shi-Hua; Li, Shan-Shan; Wang, Jian; Zhou, Wen-Yi; Huang, Xing-Jiu
• Is Part Of: Environmental science. Volume 6:Issue 6(2019)
• Page Start: 1895
• Page End: 1908
• Publication Date: 2019-05-07
• Subjects: Environmental sciences -- Periodicals; Nanotechnology -- Periodicals; 620.505
• DOI: 10.1039/c9en00114j
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 2051-8153

Abstract

Abstract : The synergistic catalysis effect of N vacancies and ∼5 nm Au nanoparticles greatly enhances the electrochemical sensitivity to Pb(ii ). Abstract : Most nanomaterials with good adsorption properties are restricted from being applied in electrochemical detection due to the lack of active sites and poor electrocatalytic reactivity. Here, we found a synergistic catalysis effect of N vacancies and ∼5 nm Au nanoparticles in Au/N-deficient-C3 N4 for highly sensitive electrochemical detection of Pb(ii ) with anti-interference via a defect-engineering strategy. N vacancy defects were introduced into g-C3 N4 to prepare N-deficient-C3 N4, which showed a significantly enhanced electrochemical sensitivity toward Pb(ii ) (689.0 μA μM −1 cm −2 ). The sensitivity of Au/N-deficient-C3 N4 dramatically rose to 1223.0 μA μM −1 cm −2 because of the synergistic catalysis effect, which was approximately 4 times as large as that of pure g-C3 N4 . The N vacancies in g-C3 N4 could greatly improve the selective adsorption of Pb(ii ), and ∼5 nm Au nanoparticles enhanced the catalysis of materials. High concentration of other common ions (Hg(ii ), Cu(ii ), or Cd(ii )) did not interfere in the electrochemical detection of Pb(ii ). A strong chemical interaction between Pb(ii ) and Au/N-deficient-C3 N4 was confirmed by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy results, which was possibly responsible for the anti-inference properties. This work provides a new method to make semiconductors with intrinsically poor electrochemical activity potential materials in the electrochemical analysis field by defect-engineering and synergistic catalysis.