A sensor based on Mo, N, S-doped interconnected porous carbon spheres material for simultaneous determination of hydroquinone and catechol

Abstract

Hydroquinone (HQ) and catechol (CC) are widely used in dyes, pharmaceutical, plastic industries and other fields. However, they are recognized as important environmental pollutants because of their high toxicity and low degradation in the ecological environment. Therefore, the development of highly sensitive and simple methods for detecting of them is very necessary. In this present work, using polydopamine (PDA) as the template and nitrogen source, thioacetamide (TAA) as sulfur source and sodium molybdate as molybdenum source, a new type of Mo, N, S doped three-dimensional(3D) interconnected porous carbon sphere (Mo, N, S-IPCS) was successfully synthesized by simple ultrasonic and pyrolysis reactions. The prepared-nanosphere has an interconnected 3D frame structure with uniform size. This increases the porosity of the material while also ensuring that the material has a stable conductive layer. This excellent unique structure enables the material a higher catalytic activity and higher selectivity. This excellent material has a good application prospect. Moreover, the material was modified on the surface of the electrode, which successfully realized the electrochemical detection of HQ and CC. Cyclic voltammetry (CV) of Mo, N, S-IPCS/GCE electrode shows two independent and distinct quasi-reversible redox peaks of HQ and CC. With the i-t method, the linear ranges and LODs of HQ were determined and calculated to be 5.0 × 10⁻⁶ to 1.0 × 10⁻² M and 0.047 μM (S/N = 3), respectively. And the linear ranges and LODs of CC were 5.0 × 10⁻⁸ to 2.0 × 10⁻³ M and 0.018 μM (S/N = 3), respectively. In addition, the electrochemical sensor was successfully applied to the detection of HQ and CC in river water.