AgNWs-PANI nanocomposite based electrochemical sensor for detection of 4-nitrophenol

•Silver Nanowire-Polyaniline (AgNWs-PANI) composite were synthesized.•Physico-chemical characterization was analyzed.•Electrochemical sensor was done.•Lower limit of detection was determined to be 52 nM.

Silver Nanowire-Polyaniline (AgNWs-PANI) composite modified glassy carbon electrode (GCE) was fabricated for the sensitive electrochemical determination of 4-nitrophenol (4-NP). AgNWs-PANI composite was synthesized in two steps process. The synthesized AgNWs-PANI was characterized by UV-vis, FTIR, SEM and TEM analysis. The electrochemical reduction determination of 4-NP under optimized conditions exhibited a reduction peak at −0.77 V with higher current response compared with bare GCE and AgNWs modified glassy carbon electrode (AgNWs/GCE). Effect of pH and scan rate was investigated to examine the proton transfer number, electron transfer number, electron transfer coefficient and standard rate constant of electrode. Under optimized condition, the reduction peak current and the concentration of 4-NP exhibits the linear relation with the concentration range from 0.6-32 μM, and the limit of detection was determined to be 52 nM (S/N = 3). Although, AgNWs-PANI/GCE were applied to detect the determination the 4-NP in real water samples at the recover ranging from 97.0-101.5%.