Microwave-irradiated synthesized platinum nanoparticles/carbon nanotubes for oxidative determination of trace arsenic(III)

Platinum nanoparticles/carbon nanotubes (Ptnano/CNTs) were rapidly synthesized by microwave radiation, and applied for the oxidative determination of arsenic(III). The transmission electron microscopy (TEM) revealed the size of synthesized Pt nanoparticles with nominal diameter of 15 ± 3 nm. Ptnano/CNTs modified glassy carbon electrode (Ptnano/CNTs/GCE) exhibited better performance for arsenic(III) analysis than that of Pt nanoparticles modified GCE (Ptnano/GCE) by electrochemical deposition or Pt foil electrode. Excellent reproducibility of the Ptnano/CNTs/GCE was obtained with the relative standard deviation (RSD) of 3.5% at 20 repeated analysis of 40 μM As(III), while the RSD was 9.8% for Ptnano/GCE under the same conditions. The limit of determination (LOD) of the Ptnano/CNTs/GCE was 0.12 ppb, which was 1–2 orders of magnitude lower than that of Ptnano/GCE or Pt foil electrode.