A novel poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene)/iron phthalocyanine/multi-wall carbon nanotubes nanocomposite with high electrocatalytic activity for nitrite oxidation

In the present work, the oxidative electrochemistry of nitrite on the poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene)/iron phthalocyanine/multi-wall carbon nanotubes-(PEDOT/FePc/MWCNT) modified screen-printed carbon electrodes (SPCE) has been investigated. The parameters, such as overpotential, current density and rate constant at PEDOT/FePc/MWCNT-modified SPCE, were compared with an un-modified, FePc-, and FePc/MWCNT-modified SPCE for electro-oxidation of nitrite. As compared with the un-modified SPCE, an increase in the anodic peak current density (J_pa) (∼100%) along with a decrease in the anodic peak potential (E_pa) of ∼150 mV for electro-oxidation of nitrite at the FePc-modified SPCE was observed. When an under-layer of MWCNT was introduced onto FePc-modified SPCE, denoted as FePc/MWCNT-modified SPCE, and the number of FePc/MWCNT bilayer was optimized, the heterogeneous electron transfer rate constant (k) at FePc/MWCNT-modified SPCE was enhanced about 7.8 times as compared with that at FePc-modified SPCE. Moreover, as a layer of PEDOT film was electrodeposited onto the FePc/MWCNT-modified SPCE, denoted as PEDOT/FePc/MWCNT-modified SPCE, a significant increase in current response along with a remarkable decrease in E_pa were noticed. This can be attributed to the pre-concentration effect induced by the electrostatic interaction between the negatively charged nitrite and oxidized PEDOT film. On the whole, the PEDOT/FePc/MWCNT-modified SPCE greatly reduces the overpotential of ∼330 mV along with 3.5 times enhanced the peak current density for the electro-oxidation of nitrite as compared with un-modified SPCE. The sensitivity and limit of detection (S/N = 3) for the PEDOT/FePc/MWCNT-modified SPCE were found to be as 638 mA cm⁻² M⁻¹ and 71 nM, respectively. Notably, PEDOT/FePc/MWCNT-modified SPCE has a lower sensing potential than compared to several other modified electrodes. The developed sensor was also applied for the determination of nitrite in tap water sample.