Synthesis and application of EDTA grafed metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) and graphene composite for the electrochemical detection of lead(II)

ABSTRACT

The rapid and sensitive detection of heavy metal ion concentrations in water holds significant importance for water resource quality control and protection. In this study, we developed a novel electrochemical sensor utilising a composite material consisting of ethylene diamine tetraacetic acid (EDTA) grafted metal-organic frameworks (MOFs NH2-UiO-66) and graphene to detect Pb2+ in water. The NH2-UiO-66 material exhibited a large specific surface area and porous structure, which was advantageous for the pre-enrichment of the heavy meatal ions. EDTA contained abundant – COOH groups, enabling it to chelate metal ions and increase the reaction sites of redox reactions. The introduction of graphene improved the conductivity of the composite, facilitating electron transfer and enhancing the sensitivity of the electrochemical sensor. Under optimal conditions, the linear range for Pb2+ detection was 0.1 μM–50 μM, and the limit of detection was achieved at 0.052 μM. Furthermore, simultaneous detection of Pb2+ and Cd2+ was successfully accomplished. The fabricated sensor also exhibited excellent selectivity, reproducibility and stability.

KEYWORDS:

• MOF
• graphene
• EDTA
• electrochemical sensor
• Pb2+

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

CRediT authorship contribution statement

Mingyan Li: Methodology, Investigation, Data curation, Writing – original draft. Shuyi Liao: Methodology, Investigation, Data curation, Writing – original draft. Shiyu Wang: Investigation, Data curation. Xiang Gao: Conceptualization, Writing – review & editing, Methodology. Zhibao Liu: Methodology.

Supplementary material

Supplemental data for this article can be accessed online at https://doi.org/10.1080/03067319.2023.2289636.

Additional information

Funding

The work is supported by the Natural Science Foundation of Shandong Province [ZR2020QE027], the Science, Education and Industry Integration Pilot Projects of Qilu University of Technology [Shandong Academy of Sciences] (2022PX041), Taishan Scholars Program and Jinan Innovation Team (202228021).