Ni Nanoparticle Anchored on MWCNT as a Novel Electrochemical Sensor for Detection of Phenol

Increasing active sites and enhancing electric conductivity are critical factors to improve sensing performance toward phenol. Herein, Ni nanoparticle was successfully anchored on acidified multi-walled carbon nanotube (a-MWCNT) surface by electroless plating technique to avoid Ni nanoparticle agglomeration and guarantee high conductivity. The crystal structure, phase composition and surface morphology were characterized by XRD, SEM and TEM measurement. The as-prepared Ni/a-MWCNT nanohybrid was immobilized onto glassy carbon electrode (GCE) surface for constructing phenol sensor. The phenol sensing performance indicated that Ni/a-MWCNT/GCE exhibited an amazing detection performance with rapid response time of 4s, a relatively wide detection range from 0.01mM to 0.48mM, a detection limit of 7.07μM and high sensitivity of 566.2μAmM-1cm-2. The superior selectivity, reproducibility, stability and applicability in real sample of Ni/a-MWCNT/GCE endowed it with potential application in discharged wastewater.