EDTA_PANI/SWCNTs nanocomposite modified electrode for electrochemical determination of copper (II), lead (II) and mercury (II) ions

Abstract Present investigation deals with electrochemical determination of copper(II), lead(II) and mercury(II) ions, using ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA) chelating ligand modified polyaniline (PANI) and singe walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) based nanocomposite (PANI/SWNCTs). Stainless steel (SS) electrode was modified with PANI and SWCNTs based nanocomposite. PANI/SWCNTs nanocomposite was electrochemically synthesized using potential cycling technique. Further it was modified with EDTA in the presence of 1-ethyl-3(3-(dimethylamin propyl)carbodiimide (EDC) as activating agent, using dip coating technique at room temperature. The EDTA_PANI/SWCNTs/SS electrode was characterized by cyclic voltammetry in 0.5 M H2SO4, which was complemented with electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS). AFM and SEM analysis was applied for the morphological studies of EDTA_PANI/SWCNTs nanocomposite structure. FTIR analysis was applied for the structural and compositional analysis of EDTA_PANI/SWCNTs nanocomposite. All the characterizations were performed before and after the modification of PANI/SWCNTs nanocomposite structure with chelating ligand. Differential pulse voltammetry (DPV) was used for the determination of Cu(II), Pb(II) and Hg(II) ion concentrations. Analytical characteristic such as selectivity and sensitivity of here above-mentioned metal ions was studied. The limit of detection the EDTA_PANI/SWCNTs/SS toward Cu(II), Pb(II) and Hg(II) was determined as 0.08 μM, 1.65 μM and 0.68 μM respectively.