An electroactive nanocomposite based on g-C3N4 and bioinspired synthesized reduced graphene oxide grafted Ag nanoparticles for p-nitrophenol detection

Abstract

We report the p-nitrophenol electrochemical sensor using a new nanocomposite composed of bioinspired synthesised ‘reduced graphene oxide grafted Ag nanoparticles and g-C₃N₄ ‘(AgNPs-rGO)_TL’. Here, it has been prepared by simultaneous reduction of AgNO₃ and graphene oxide (GO) in one pot using only a phytoextract i. e. Ocimum sanctum leaf extract as a ‘green reducer’. It is a straightforward, green and cost-effective approach. Further, it blends with graphitic carbon nitride to form a new nanocomposite (AgNPs-rGO)_TL:g-C₃N₄ for electrocatalytic sensing of toxic ‘p-nitrophenol’ in the aqueous medium at −0.62 V. The synthesized nanocomposite was well-characterized by FTIR, XPS, XRD, SEM with EDX and TEM. Phyto-synthesized (AgNPs-rGO)_TL synergistically enhances the properties of g-C₃N₄ such as surface coverage area and electron transportation. The newly fabricated sensor exhibited negligible influence of common interferences and performed well in a very wide linearity in two calibration ranges (0.015 μM–846 μM and 846 μM–8001 μM) and detection limit (15 nM). The real-world sample analysis was well performed.