Plasmonic photo-assisted electrochemical sensor for detection of trace lead ions based on Au anchored on two-dimensional g-C3N4/graphene nanosheets

In this paper, a plasmonic photo-assisted electrochemical sensor, Au anchored on two-dimensional (2D) graphitic carbon nitride (g-C3N4)/reduced graphene oxide (rGO) nanosheets (Au/g-C3N4/rGO), was facile fabricated. The morphology and structure of the composite are characterized by transmission electron microscope, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction and ultraviolet-visible spectrophotometer (UV-Vis). Based on the semiconductor of g-C3N4 and optical properties of surface plasmon resonance for Au, the as-prepared Au/g-C3N4/rGO showed high sensitivity for the detection of trace lead ion [Pb(II)] by differential pulse anodic stripping voltammetry in the presence of visible light illumination. Under optimized conditions, the limit of detection (signal-to-noise ratio (S/N) = 3) Pb(II) detection can be low to 0.1 nmol center dot L-1. In addition, the interference research and real soil sample detection were measured to confirm the possibility of practical applications.

Automated summary

A plasmonic photo-assisted electrochemical sensor was developed with Au anchored on 2D g-C3N4/rGO nanosheets, showing high sensitivity for detecting trace lead ions under visible light illumination. The sensor had a low detection limit of 0.1 nmol·L-1 and showed promising practical application potential through interference studies and real soil sample detection.