Electrochemical detection of nitrate with carbon nanofibers and copper co-modified carbon fiber electrodes

Obvious air pollutants are both environmental and health hazards, which is likely to cause respiratory problems in infants and the elderly. Airborne nitrates are a significant part of water-soluble ions in air pollutants. The detection of these nitrate ions would go a long way to help manage and control such ions in air pollutants and their disastrous effects. A critical challenge in the detection of nitrate is the uncontrollable concentration and signal overlapping with other ions. This study aimed at detection of nitrate ion using carbon fibers microelectrodes. A novel copper/carbon nanofibers/carbon fiber microelectrode (Cu/CNFs/CFE) was designed and used to detect nitrates in a simple, inexpensive and facile approach. The prepared Cu/CNFs/CFE has shown an increased sensitivity and a lower limit of detection for nitrate compared to bare CFE. This increase in sensitivity is due to the increased electrode surface area with a Cu/CNFs coating and more mass transport channels with superior electrocatalytic abilities. Under optimal experimental conditions, the Cu/CNFs/CFE demonstrated the detection limit of nitrate was 0.8 mu M (S/N = 3) and linear range was 5 mu M-8000 mu M. Finally, it's pointed out the nitrate content that four air pollutant samples obtained from the cities of Yuci and Taiyuan in Shanxi province of China.

Automated summary

This study focuses on detecting nitrate ions using carbon fiber microelectrodes. A novel copper/carbon nanofibers/carbon fiber microelectrode (Cu/CNFs/CFE) was designed and used for detecting nitrates in a simple, inexpensive approach. The Cu/CNFs/CFE showed increased sensitivity and lower detection limits compared to bare CFE.