Highly electrocatalytic reduction of nitrite ions on a copper nanoparticles thin film

High dense Cu nanoparticles thin films, with the average size of 25.1 nm, were prepared by electrodeposition Cu nanoparticles on Au electrodes pre-coated 1-decanethiol layers (Cu NPs/thiol/Au). It shows high electrocatalytic capability for the reduction of nitrite ion (NO2-) and exhibits a good reproducibility, which can be utilized as efficient electrochemical sensors. The detection limit of NO2- approaches similar to 10(-7) mM and the response time is fast with the average time of 2 s. (C) 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.