Facile synthesis of zirconia nanoparticles-decorated graphene hybrid nanosheets for an enzymeless methyl parathion sensor

This paper proposed a facile electrochemical approach to the synthesis of high quality zirconia nanoparticles decorated graphene nanosheets (labeled as ZrO(2)NPs-GNs) onto a cathodic substrate. This facile one-step co-electrocleposition approach for the construction of GNs based hybrid is environmentally friendly, without involving the chemical reduction of GO, and therefore will not result in further contamination. The electrochemically synthesized ZrO(2)NPs-GNs composite has been carefully characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), atomic force microscopy (AFM) and various electrochemical techniques. Such a nanostructured composite, combining the advantages of ZrO(2)NPs (high recognition and enrichment capability for phosphoric moieties) together with GNs (large surface area and high conductivity), is highly efficient to capture organophosphate pesticides (OPs). Combined with the square-wave voltammetry, a highly sensitive enzymeless OPs sensor was fabricated using the prepared ZrO(2)NPs-GNs composite as solid phase extraction (SPE). The detection limit for methyl parathion (MP) in aqueous solutions was determined to be of 0.6 ng mL(-1) (S/N = 3). This work provides a green and facile route for the preparation of GNs-based hybrid, and also offers a new promising protocol for OPs analysis. (C) 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.