Electrochemical sensor based on polystyrene sulfonate–carbon nanopowders composite for Cu (II) determination

• Electrochemical sensor based on composite of polystyrene sulfonate–carbon nanopowders.
• A DPASV method with open circuit accumulation is developed for copper determination.
• Accurate determination of copper at nanomolar concentration level is feasible.
• The proposed method is successfully applied to mineral and environmental water samples.

A differential pulse anodic stripping voltammetric (DPASV) method, with an open circuit (OC) approach in the pre-concentration step has been developed for copper ion determination at very low concentration level using a sensor based on a polystyrene sulfonate–carbon nanopowders (PSS–CnP) composite. This composite material is easily prepared from ultrasonic assisted dispersions of CnP in aqueous solution of PSS. For preparation of sensor devices, a reproducible and inexpensive drop coating procedure of the surface of home-made pencil graphite electrodes (PGEs) using a CnP dispersion in PSS was performed. At the optimal conditions for accumulation (0.01 mol L−1 KNO3 at pH 3) and measurement steps (a reduction potential of −0.5 V for 60 s and then, an anodic DPV scan) and using a pre-concentration time of 300 s, the limit of detection was 0.11 µg L−1 (1.73 nM). This OC-DPASV method using the PSS–CnP–PGE sensor was successfully employed for Cu(II) determination in mineral, river and sea water samples.

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