A diamond/graphite nanoplatelets electrode for anodic stripping voltammetric trace determination of Zn(II), Cd(II), Pb(II) and Cu(II)

A platform for the determination of Zn(II), Cd(II), Pb(II) and Cu(II) has been proposed based on a novel diamond/graphite (D/G) nanoplatelets film electrode using differential pulse anodic stripping voltammetry method. The microstructure and the composition of the film were characterized by scanning electron microscope (SEM), atomic force microscope (AFM), Raman spectroscopy and transmission electron microscope (TEM). The D/G nanoplatelets structure with two-dimensional diamond nanoplatelet as the stem and highly conducting graphite layers as shells exhibits large specific surface and great electrical conductivity, significantly enhancing the electron transport in the electrochemical reaction. Under the optimum conditions, wide linear ranges and high sensitivity were achieved. In the typical detection process, two linear working ranges were obtained due to the incomplete anodic removal and the limits of detection (LODs) were estimated to be 1.72 mu g L-1, 0.47 mu g L-1, 4.86 mu g L-1 and 0.45 mu g L-1 for Zn(II), Cd(II), Pb(II) and Cu(II), respectively. The simultaneous detections also verify the superior analytical performance with linear ranges from 10 mu g L-1 to 250 mu g L-1 and low LODs. Herein, we present a novel diamond/graphite nanoplatelets electrode without any modification/functionalization for the sensitive detection of trace heavy metal ions.