Fabricating Cu Single Atom Sites on Ce-BTC for Sensitive and Durable Detection of Multipollutions in Water

Abstract

Easy and mass preparation of highly efficient single atomic electrocatalysts (SAECs) for wide applications in constructing sensitive electrochemical sensing remains a great challenge. In this work, a heterogeneous SAEC was synthesized by dispersing the copper phthalocyanine (CuPc) molecular on porous Ce-BTC for sensitive, simultaneous detection of NO₂^– and Bisphenol A (BPA) in water. Herein, CuPc has a typical Cu-nitrogen–carbon (Cu–N₄) conjugated structure and highly efficient single-atom catalytic sites with excellent catalytical efficiency and conductivity, while Ce-BTC exhibited adsorption and activation of NO₂^– and BPA, as well as provided matrix to better disperse CuPc to obtain Cu–N₄/Ce-BTC heterogeneous catalysts. Thus, the synergistic effect of CuPc and Ce-BTC enables Cu–N₄/Ce-BTC to have a highly efficient catalytic activity and stability. Impressively, the coordinated carbon and nitrogen atoms surrounding the Cu help in activating pollution molecules, which can further enhance the sensitivity. As a result, the Cu–N₄/Ce-BTC sensor for detecting NO₂^– and BPA exhibited good stability, reproducibility, selectivity, and a wide linear range of 20–1000 μM and 10–1000 μM with a low detection limit of 0.5 and 0.15 μM, respectively. This research presents a simple and mass product synthesizing SAECs approach, which will promote the development of SAEC applications in electrochemical sensors.