A novel electrochemical 4-nonyl-phenol sensor based on molecularly imprinted poly (o-phenylenediamine-co-o-toluidine)−nitrogen-doped graphene nanoribbons−ionic liquid composite film

•4-Nonyl phenol imprinted copolymer based sensor is prepared by voltammetry.•Nitrogen-doped graphene nanoribbons and ionic liquid are used to enhance sensitivity.•The composite film presents good performance in sensing 4-nonyl phenol.

A novel electrochemical sensor was presented for the determination of 4-nonyl-phenol (NP), which was constructed by molecularly imprinted polymer (MIP), nitrogen-doped graphene nanoribbons (NGNRs) and ionic liquid (IL). The NGNRs were prepared by unzipping multiwalled carbon nanotubes, followed by hydrothermal treatment with ammonium–NaOH solution. The MIP was prepared by electropolymerization at the NGNRs-IL composite film modified electrode, using NP as template, o-phenylenediamine and o-toluidine as copolymerization monomers. The resulting sensor MIP/NGNRs-IL/GCE showed good performance. Under the optimized conditions, the peak current was linear to NP concentration in the range from 0.04 to 6 μM. The sensitivity and detection limit were 3.4 μA/μM and 8 nM (S/N = 3), respectively. The electrochemical sensor was applied to the determination of NP in real samples and satisfactory results were obtained.

Graphical abstractThe electrochemical sensor based on molecularly imprinted poly (o-phenylenediamine-co-o-toluidine)– nitrogen-doped graphene nanoribbons–ionic liquid composite film shows high sensitivity and selectivity to 4-nonyl-phenol.Note: o-phenylenediamine (oPD), o-toluidine (OTD), nitrogen-doped graphene nanoribbons (NGNRs), ionic liquid (IL) and 4-nonyl-phenol (NP).Figure optionsDownload full-size imageDownload as PowerPoint slide