Sonochemical preparation of bismuth oxide nanotiles decorated exfoliated graphite for the electrochemical detection of imipramine

This work described the sonohydrolysis of Bi(NO₃)₃ into Bi₂O₃ and simultaneous sonochemical exfoliation of graphite into graphene sheets in the alkaline environment and its electocatalytic performance towards the detection of anti-depression drug imipramine (IMPR). The ultrasound (37/80 kHz; 60 W) effectively hydrolyzed the Bi(NO₃)₃ into a single crystalline monoclinic phase of Bi₂O₃ nanotiles in the alkaline condition. And also, the sonochemical reaction condition can trigger the lamellar particles on the graphite bulk surface and allowed to exfoliated the graphite (EG) into graphene nanosheets as well. The material characterizations are done by XRD, Raman, FESEM, and HRTEM. It shows the α-Bi₂O₃ nanotiles along with EG nanosheets with high crystallinity and low defects. The (0 0 2) plane in XRD confirms the high crystalline nature of EG. The monoclinic stretching vibrations (90–600 cm⁻¹) confirms the Raman modes of Bi₂O₃. The prepared Bi₂O₃-EG composites are subjected to the electrochemical determination of IMPR which revealed appreciable analytical performances. The results showed that the Bi₂O₃-EG exhibits better results in the 3 h sonication process. Bi₂O₃-EG-3 exhibited a good linear range (0.02–82.3 µM) and an acceptable limit of detection (6 nM). And also Bi₂O₃-EG-3 exhibits the significant tolerance limit when compared to other potential interfering compounds.