Synthesis of silver nanowires and their applications in the electrochemical detection of halide

A silver nanowires modified platinum (Ag NWs/Pt) electrode was developed for simultaneous and selective determination of chloride, bromide and iodide ions by cyclic voltammetry in aqueous solutions. Silver nanowires were synthesized by an l-cysteine-assisted poly (vinyl pyrrolidone) (PVP)-mediated polyol route. X-ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS) were employed to investigate the prepared nanowires. The intrinsic high surface area and the fast electron transfer rate ascribed from the nanowire structure could further improve halide detection performance. The determination was based on measurement of the well-separated oxidation peak currents of respective silver halides formed on the surface of silver during an anodic potential sweep. The concentration range was linear from 50 μM to 20.2 mM for bromide and iodide and 200 μM to 20.2 mM for chloride, and the sensitivity was 0.059 μA/mM, 0.042 μA/mM and 0.032 μA/mM for chloride, bromide and iodide, respectively. The correlation coefficient was 0.999 in each case. The Ag NWs/Pt electrode offered a useful platform for the development of a highly sensitive halide sensor.