Poly(pyrrole- co-o-toluidine) wrapped CoFe2O4/R(GO-OXSWCNTs) ternary composite material for Ga3+ sensing ability

Dina F Katowah; Mahmoud A Hussein; M M Alam; T R Sobahi; M A Gabal; Abdullah M Asiri; Mohammed M Rahman

doi:10.1039/c9ra03593a

Poly(pyrrole- co-o-toluidine) wrapped CoFe₂O₄/R(GO-OXSWCNTs) ternary composite material for Ga³⁺ sensing ability

RSC Adv. 2019 Oct 16;9(57):33052-33070. doi: 10.1039/c9ra03593a. eCollection 2019 Oct 15.

Authors

Dina F Katowah¹, Mahmoud A Hussein^{1

2}, M M Alam³, T R Sobahi¹, M A Gabal^{1

4}, Abdullah M Asiri^{1

5}, Mohammed M Rahman^{1

5}

Affiliations

¹ Chemistry Department, Faculty of Science, King Abdulaziz University P. O. Box 80203 Jeddah 21589 Saudi Arabia maabdo@kau.edu.sa mahmali@aun.edu.eg mahussein74@yahoo.com mmrahman@kau.edu.sa.
² Polymer Chemistry Lab, Chemistry Department, Faculty of Science, Assiut University Assiut 71516 Egypt.
³ Department of Chemical Engineering and Polymer Science, Shahjalal University of Science and Technology Sylhet 3100 Bangladesh.
⁴ Chemistry Department, Faculty of Science, Benha University Benha Egypt.
⁵ Center of Excellence for Advanced Materials Research (CEAMR), King Abdulaziz University Jeddah 21589 Saudi Arabia.

Abstract

In this study, we report a novel ternary conductive hybrid material with high stability, conductivity, and excellent electrochemical Ga³⁺ sensing ability. Ternary poly(pyrrole-co-o-toluidine)/CoFe₂O₄/reduced graphene oxide-oxidized single-wall carbon nanotube nanocomposites in the form of P(Py-co-OT)/CF/R(GO-OXSWCNTs) NCs have been synthesized through an in situ chemical polymerization method via a facile three-step approach. Single phase CoFe₂O₄ (CF) nanoparticles (NPs) were synthesized using an egg white method, while reduced graphene oxide-oxidized single-wall carbon nanotubes R(GO-OXSWCNTs) were prepared via co-reduction of graphene oxide along with oxidized SWCNTs flowed by coating CF and R(GO-OXSWCNTs) with a poly(pyrrole-co-o-toluidine) matrix P(Py-co-OT) copolymer. The results of X-ray diffraction spectroscopy (XRD), Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and Raman indicated that the P(Py-co-OT)/CF/R(GO-OXSWCNTs) NCs were effectively synthesized with strong interactions among the constituents. The thermal stability of P(Py-co-OT)/CF/R(GO-OXSWCNTs) NCs is considerably enhanced in the composite format. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and atomic force microscopy (AFM) demonstrated that CF and R(GO-OXSWCNTs) were well coated by P(Py-co-OT). The electrical conductivity study showed that P(Py-co-OT) and R(GO-OXSWCNTs) might significantly improve the conductivity and the electrochemical performance of the CF. A Ga³⁺ ion selective electrochemical sensor was fabricated by coating a glassy carbon electrode (GCE) with synthesized P(Py-co-OT)/CF/R(GO-OXSWCNTs) NCs by using 5% Nafion binder. The slope of the calibration curve was used to calculate the sensor's analytical parameters, such as sensitivity (13.0569 μA μM^-1 cm^-2), detection limit (96.27 ± 4.81 pM), quantification limit (43.523 pM), response time, reproducibility, large linear dynamic range, and linearity. The validation of the P(Py-co-OT)/CF/R(GO-OXSWCNTs) NCs/GCE sensor probe was investigated by a standard addition method (recovery) in the presence of various environmental samples and satisfying results were obtained.