Evaluation of cerium doped tin oxide nanoparticles as a sensitive sensor for selective detection and extraction of cobalt

• Ce doped SnO2.
• Chemo-sensor.
• Selective sensor for cobalt ion.

Chemo-sensor technology demands to design a single, preconcentrator based sensing system having higher sensitivity, sufficient selectivity and efficient removal of metal ions with simple operating and recognition methodology. Here we effectively deliberated Ce doped SnO2 nanoparticles based sensing system which can be exploited for the recognition and extraction of Co(II) ions in a single step by strong interaction between Ce doped SnO2 nanoparticles and Co(II). The sensing ability of Ce doped SnO2 nanoparticles were deliberated for a selective removal of cobalt using inductively coupled plasma-optical emission spectrometry. The sensing ability of Ce doped SnO2 is studied for various metal ions, such as Cd(II), Co(II), Cr(III), Cu(II), Fe(III), Ni(II) and Zn(II) but the designed sensor was most selective toward Co(II) which was 5000 time more sensitive to Co(II) rather than different interfering metal ions. In addition, the desorption study for regeneration of Ce doped SnO2 nanoparticles was carried out. This novel approach provides a new route for simultaneous detection and removal of Co(II) in a single step and can be a time and cost alternative tool for environmental safety.