A novel screen-printed TiO2 photoelectrochemical sensor for direct determination and reduction of hexavalent chromium

• The first direct photoelectrochemical (PEC) sensor to detect and reduce Cr(VI).
• The first screen-printed TiO2 photoelectrode for Cr(VI) detection, which makes industrial production more cost-effective.
• Au Surface modification from highly stable thiosulfate–sulfite mixed ligand electrolyte with no stabilizing additive.
• Superior PEC sensitivity, selectivity, and stability developed under sun simulator illumination via amperometric technique.
• Demonstration of actual detection of Cr(VI) in contaminated water samples from tap and river water.

A novel and simple photoelectrochemical (PEC) sensor to detect Cr(VI) based on screen-printed TiO2 modified with gold nanoparticles is presented. The proposed PEC sensor showed a very low detection limit (S/N = 3) of 0.004 μM, over a wide linear concentration range from 0.01 μM to 100 μM with a high sensitivity of 11.88 μA.μM− 1 Cr(VI). Results also indicated good anti-interference and superb recovery in natural media application for Cr(VI) sensing.

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