Fabrication of chloroform sensor based on hydrothermally prepared low-dimensional β-Fe2O3 nanoparticles

Hydrothermally prepared as-grown low-dimensional nano-particles (NPs) have been characterized using UV-vis spectroscopy, Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy, powder X-ray diffraction (XRD), field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM), Raman spectroscopy, and electron dispersion spectroscopy (EDS). The uniformity of the nano-material was executed by the scanning electron microscopy, where the single phase of the nanocrystalline beta-Fe2O3 was characterized using XRD techniques. beta-Fe2O3 nanoparticles fabricated glassy carbon electrode (GCE) have improved chloroform-sensing performances in terms of electrical response (I-V technique) for detecting analyte in liquid phase. The analytical performances were investigated, which showed that the better sensitivity, stability, and reproducibility of the sensor improved significantly by using Fe2O3 NPs thin-film on GCE. The calibration plot was linear (R = 0.9785) over the large range of 12.0 mu M to 12.0 mM. The sensitivity was calculated as 2.1792 mu A cm(-2) mM(-1) with a detection limit of 4.4 +/- 0.10 mu M in short response time (10.0 s). (C) 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.