Determination of Antimony(III) by Differential Pulse Voltammetry Using a Gold Nanoparticle–Ionic Liquid–Graphene-Modified Selenium-Doped Carbon Paste Electrode

ABSTRACT

A simple and sensitive differential pulse stripping voltammetric method was developed for the determination of antimony(III) using a selenium-doped carbon paste electrode modified with an ionic liquid, graphene, and gold nanoparticles. The conditions, including the mass of graphene, concentration of hydrochloric acid, deposition potential, and deposition time were optimized by single-factor experiments. Under the optimal conditions, a linear equation of I_Sb(III) (µA) = −16.9882 − 11.0929 c (µmol/L) (R = 0.9965) and a detection limit of 2.7 × 10⁻⁸ mol/L were obtained for 8.0 × 10⁻⁸ to 4.8 × 10⁻⁶ mol/L antimony(III). The response shows that the sensor enhances the sensitivity of antimony due to the high conductivity and large surface areas of the ionic liquid, graphene, and gold nanoparticles. This electrode may provide a new sensing platform for the determination of antimony.

KEYWORDS:

• Antimony
• differential pulse voltammetry
• gold nanoparticles
• graphene
• ionic liquid

Additional information

Funding

This work was financially supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (21545003, and 21275044), and Hunan Provincial Key Lab of Dark Tea and Jin-hua (2016TP1022).