Amine Functionalized polyaniline grafted to exfoliated graphite oxide: Synthesis, characterization and multi-element sensor studies

•An amine functionalized polyaniline has been grafted to exfoliated graphite oxide.•Synthesized EGAMPANI is characterized using FTIR, TGA, XRD, Raman and elemental analysis.•A DPASV based multi-elemental sensor is prepared using EGAMPANI modified CPE.•Analysis was carried out to study the electrochemical detection of Pb2 +, Cd2 + and Hg2 +.•The LoD observed is 2.2 × 10− 6 M for Hg2 + ion, 1.2 × 10− 6 M for Cd2 + ion, and 9.8 × 10− 7 M for Pb2 + ion.

An amine functionalized polyaniline (AMPANI) derivative has been grafted onto exfoliated graphite oxide (EGO). The synthesis involved the in-situ chemical oxidative polymerization of functionalized aniline monomer in the presence of EGO with diaminobenzene acting as a bridging ligand to yield EGAMPANI. The synthesized compound was characterized by FT-IR and FT-Raman spectroscopy as well as thermogravimetric and X-ray diffraction analysis. The EGAMPANI was then used to modify a carbon paste electrode (CPE), which was applied for multi-elemental sensing of Pb2 +, Cd2 + and Hg2 + ions using differential pulse anodic stripping voltammetry. The limits of detection achieved using the EGAMPANI modified CPE were 2.2 × 10− 6 M for Hg2 + ion, 1.2 × 10− 6 M for Cd2 + ion and 9.8 × 10− 7 M for Pb2 + ion.

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