Potentiodynamic formation of diaminobenzene films on an electrochemically reduced graphene oxide surface: Determination of nitrite in water samples.

An electrode comprised of a polydiaminobenzene (p-DAB) film formed on electrochemically reduced graphene oxide (ERGO) on a glassy carbon (GC) (p-DAB@ERGO/GC) was fabricated using a potentiodynamic method for the sensitive and selective determination of nitrite in the presence of a common interference. The p-DAB@ERGO/GC film-modified electrode surfaces were characterized by scanning electron microscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), Raman spectroscopy, electrochemical impedance spectroscopy and cyclic voltammetry. The film fabrication was initiated via the NH2 groups of DAB, which was confirmed by XPS from the peaks corresponding to NH (396.7eV), NH (399.4eV), NN (400.2eV), and N+H (402.2eV). The Raman spectra revealed the characteristic D and G bands at 1348 and 1595cm-1, respectively, which confirmed the fabrication of GO on the GC electrode, and the ratio of the D and G bands was increased after the electrochemical reduction of GO. The surface coverage of the modified electrode was 8.16×10-11molcm-2. The p-DAB@ERGO/GC film-modified electrode was used successfully for the determination of nitrite ions. The p-DAB@ERGO/GC film-modified electrode exhibited superior activity for the determination of nitrite compared to the bare GC and p-DAB@GC electrodes. The amperometric current increased linearly with increasing nitrite concentration from 7.0×10-6 to 2.0×10-2M. The detection limit was 30nM (S/N=3). In addition, the modified electrode was used successfully to determine the nitrite ion concentration in the presence of a 100-fold excess of common interferents. The practical application of the modified electrode was demonstrated by determining the nitrite ion concentration in water samples.