In-situ synthesized ZIF-67 graphene oxide (ZIF-67/GO) nanocomposite for efficient individual and simultaneous detection of heavy metal ions

Abstract

Heavy metals are ubiquitous in water bodies as a result of anthropogenic activities and over time they accumulate in body thus posing serious health problems. Therefore, it is essential to improve sensing performance, for determination of heavy metal ions (HMIs), of electrochemical sensors. In this work, cobalt-derived MOF (ZIF-67) was in-situ synthesized and incorporated onto the surface of graphene oxide (GO) by simple sonication method. The prepared material (ZIF-67/GO) was characterized by FTIR, XRD, SEM, and Raman spectroscopy. Afterwards, a sensing platform was made by drop-casting synthesized composite onto glassy carbon electrode for individual and simultaneous detection of heavy metal ions pollutants (Hg²⁺, Zn²⁺, Pb²⁺, and Cr³⁺) with estimated detection limits of 2 nM, 1 nM, 5 nM, and 0.6 nM, respectively, when determined simultaneously, that are below the permissible limit by World Health Organization. To the best of our knowledge, this is first report of HMIs detection by ZIF-67 incorporated GO sensor which can successfully determine the Hg⁺², Zn⁺², Pb⁺², and Cr⁺³ ions simultaneously with lower detection limits.

Keywords: Electrochemical sensor; Heavy metal ions; Individual and simultaneous detection; Metal–organic framework; Pollutants.