Polyaniline/zinc bismuthate nanocomposites for the enhanced electrochemical performance of the determination of L-Cysteine

A simple in-situ aniline monomer polymerizing process in aqueous solution has been used for the synthesis of the polyaniline/zinc bismuthate nanocomposites. X-ray diffraction (XRD) pattern shows that the nanocomposites have cubic ZnBi38O58 structure. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and high-resolution TEM (HRTEM) techniques show that the amorphous polyaniline attaches firmly to the surface of the zinc bismuthate nanorods. The polyaniline/zinc bismuthate nanocomposites modified glassy carbon electrode (GCE) exhibits good electrocatalytic activity toward L-Cysteine. The electrochemical performance for the determination of L-Cysteine is greatly enhanced which may be contributed to the polyaniline and synergistic role between polyaniline and zinc bismuthate nanorods. The influences of scan rate, L-Cysteine concentration and polyaniline content are investigated. The peak current is linearly dependent on the scan rate and L-Cysteine concentration. The limit of detection (LOD) decreases obviously from 0.032 μM to 0.012 μM with increasing the polyaniline content from 10 wt% to 40 wt%. The polyaniline/zinc bismuthate nanocomposites modified GCE shows good reproducibility and stability.