The combination of electrophoretic deposition and seed-mediated growth as an effective preparation procedure of FTO/AuNPs electrodes for arsenic(III) measurement

Inorganic arsenic is very toxic but is widely distributed in the environment. Recently, anodic stripping voltammetry method has been developed for the determination of trace inorganic arsenic. In this research, gold nanoparticles coated on fluorine-doped tin oxide glass (FTO/AuNPs) electrodes were successfully fabricated via the combination of electrophoretic deposition and seed-mediated growth and were utilized as an electrode for the detection of arsenic(III). First, FTO/AuNPs electrodes were prepared by varying the potential (1-5 V) and the time (30-180 min) of electrophoretic deposition process. Electrochemical analysis of FTO/AuNPs electrodes was proceeded by cyclic voltammetric measurement in electrolyte solutions containing 0.005 M HQ and 0.1 M NaClO4, showing the optimized electrophoretic potential and time to be 3 V and 90 min. The best-performed FTO/AuNPs electrode after electrophoretic deposition was immersed in different seed-mediated growth solutions, which exhibited an increase in both nanoparticle size and electrochemical activity. Finally, the fabricated FTO/AuNPs electrodes were utilized for arsenic(III) analysis by anodic stripping voltammetry-square wave voltammetry method which showed high sensitivity, as limit of detection value of 3.76 ppb and limit of quantification value of 11.6 ppb could be achieved.

Automated summary

Inorganic arsenic, a highly toxic substance, is widely present in the environment. Researchers have recently developed an anodic stripping voltammetry method to detect trace amounts of inorganic arsenic. In this study, gold nanoparticles coated on fluorine-doped tin oxide glass electrodes were successfully fabricated and used for arsenic(III) detection.