Development of 4-methoxyphenol chemical sensor based on NiS2-CNT nanocomposites

• Facile NiS2-CNT nanocomposites preparation.
• Sensitive and selective 4-methoxyphenol chemical sensor.
• Lowest detection limit (30.0 ± 0.02 pM) ever found.
• Chemical sensor development coupled with nanotechnology.
• Environmental safety.

Nickel disulphide decorated carbon nanotube nanocomposites (NiS2-CNT NCs) was synthesized by the wet-chemical method in alkaline medium. Characterization of the resulting NiS2-CNT NCs was performed in details by field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM) attached with energy-dispersive spectroscopy (EDS), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), UV/vis. spectroscopy, FT-IR spectroscopy, and X-ray diffraction pattern (XRD). Glassy carbon electrode (GCE; Surface area: 0.0316 cm2) was fabricated with NiS2-CNT NCs and developed in chemical sensing performance by a simple and reliable I-V method. Toxic chemical 4-methoxyphenol (4-MP) was used as a target analyte in selectivity study, which exhibits a fast response towards NiS2-CNT NCs fabricated GCE sensor by the I-V method. It also displayed an excellent sensitivity, lower-detection limit, large linear dynamic range, long-term stability, and reproducibility. In analytical investigation, the calibration plot was found linear (r2: 0.8744) over a large concentration range (from 0.1 nM to 10.0 mM), where the sensitivity was around 632.9224 µA mM−1 cm−2 with a very low detection limit (LOD) of 30.0 ± 0.02 pM (Based on the S/N=3). Potentials of NiS2-CNT NCs in terms of chemical sensing are also discussed in this report. This approach is introduced as a well-organized route of efficient phenolic sensor development in environmental and healthcare fields in broad scales.

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