A novel palygorskite-modified carbon paste amperometric sensor for catechol determination

A palygorskite-modified carbon paste electrode (CPE) was constructed using graphite powder mixed with palygorskite particles. Compared with the unmodified CPE, the resulting palygorskite-modified CPE remarkably increases the peak currents of catechol, and greatly lowers the peak potential separation. Therefore, the palygorskite exhibits catalytic activity to catechol and significantly improves the determining sensitivity. The electrocatalytic activity of palygorskite is attributed to its high adsorption capability and the –OH groups on its surface, which plays an important role in the electron transfer between the modified CPE and the catechol in the solution. The sensor shows a linear response range between 5 and 100 μM catechol with a correlation coefficient of 0.998. The detection limit was calculated as 0.57 μM (s/n = 3).