Electrocatalytic oxidation and detection of hydrazine at carbon nanotube-supported palladium nanoparticles in strong acidic solution conditions

Pd nanoparticle catalysts supported by multiwall carbon nanotubes (Pd/MWNTs) prepared using a complexation-reduction method are used in this study for the electrochemical determination of hydrazine. The physico-chemical properties of the Pd/MWNT catalyst were characterized by X-ray diffraction analysis (XRD), transmission electron microscopy (.TEM) and scanning electron microscopy physico-chemical (SEM). These structural analyses reveal that the Pd/MWNTs-modified glassy carbon electrode possesses a three-dimensional network structure in which the Pd nanoparticles, with an average size of 5 nm, are uniformly distributed on the surface of the MWNTs. After Nation solution was coated on the surface of the Pd/MWNT layer, the resulting Pd/MWNT-Nafion modified electrode retained the three-dimensional network structure. Electrochemical measurements show that the oxidation peak current of hydrazine decreases with increasing pH. Under optimum conditions, the Pd/MWNT-Nafion-based hydrazine sensor exhibits a broad linear calibration range (2.5-700 mu M) and a low detection limit of 1.0 mu M for hydrazine. (C) 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.