Electrochemical simultaneous determination of nitrophenol isomers at nano-gold modified glassy carbon electrode

A novel method for simultaneous determination of nitrophenol isomers at nano-gold modified glassy carbon electrode has been developed. The gold nanoparticles were directly electrodeposited onto the glassy carbon electrode via a constant potential -0.2 V (vs. SCE) for 60 s from 0.1 mol L-1 KNO3 containing 0.4 g L-1 HAuCl4. The resulting electrode (nano-Au/GCE) was characterized with scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The electrochemistry response of nitrophenol isomers at the nano-Au/GCE was studied. The result indicated that o-, m-, and p- nitrophenol are separated entirely at nano-Au/GCE, and a semi-derivative voltammetric technology was adopted to enhance the determination sensitivity. This modified electrode could be applied to direct simultaneous voltammetric determination of nitrophenol isomers in water samples without preseparation with higher sensitivity.