Au-modified the hollow ZnSnO3 cubes with high performance for hydrazine electrochemical sensing

The Au-modified hollow ZnSnO3 cubes were fabricated through a facile and effective two-step approach, and then developed an electrochemical sensor for hydrazine (N2H4) detection. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X-ray diffraction spectroscopy (XRD), Energy-dispersive X-ray spectrum (EDS) and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) were employed to characterize the morphology, structure and crystalline nature of the Au-modified hollow ZnSnO3 cubes, and the results showed that Au NPs were deposited on ZnSnO3 surface and internal cavity. Meanwhile, electrochemical investigations indicated that the proposed sensor exhibited a high current intensity at 0.66 V toward N2H4. Under optimized conditions, the sensor displayed the outstanding analytical performance to N2H4 in terms of sensitivity (787.0 mu A.mM(-1).cm(-2)), linear range (0.02 mu M-0.36 mM) and detection limit (0.01 mu M). Compared with GNF/GCE, the sensitivity of the proposed was 2 times of improvement, the linear range was three orders of magnitude wider and the detection limit was one order of decrease. Additionally, the sensitivity of the proposed also was 4 times of TiO2 NTsAu@Pd/GCE. The present work may broaden the idea for constructing novel sensor and provide insights of the Au-modified hollow ZnSnO3 cubes synthesized.

Automated summary

The Au-modified hollow ZnSnO3 cubes were successfully fabricated and used to develop an electrochemical sensor for hydrazine detection, showing high sensitivity, a wide linear range, and low detection limit. The proposed sensor exhibited improved performance compared to other sensors, providing insights for constructing novel sensors.