Determination of copper ions using a phytic acid/polypyrrole nanowires modified glassy carbon electrode

•An electrochemical sensor was developed for the detection of copper ions.•PPy was functionalized with PA by electrostatic attraction.•The linear range of the copper ions concentration was from 10 to 60 μg·L− 1.

This study reports a sensitive electro-analytical method for the determination of trace amounts of Cu2 + using a phytate functionalized polypyrrole nanowires (PPy NWs) modified glass carbon electrode. The phytic acid/polypyrrole (PA/PPy) NWs were prepared by an electrostatic adsorption and ultrasonic mixing. The results showed that both PPy NWs and PA/PPy NWs modified glassy carbon electrodes have electrochemical responses toward Cu2 +. However, owing to the synergistic contribution between the PPy NWs and PA, the PA/PPy NWs modified electrode exhibited higher sensitivity than that of PPy NWs modified electrode. The PA/PPy NWs composites functionalized electrodes showed a good linear relationship with Cu2 + at concentration ranges of 10-60 μg·L− 1, and the limit of detection (S/N = 3) was 3.33 μg·L− 1. In addition, the electrochemical sensor was applied to assay Cu2 + in real water samples.