Fabrication of nitrogen-carbon mediated γ-Mo2N nanocomposite based electrochemical sensor for rapid and sensitive determination of antioxidant 6-PPD in the environment

Zeying Yang; Boyong Cao; Xiaowei An; Zhongliang Yu; Wuduo Zhao; Fangcheng Su; Guoqing Guan; Yanhao Zhang; Zhengkun Xie; Baoxian Ye

doi:10.1016/j.talanta.2023.125072

Fabrication of nitrogen-carbon mediated γ-Mo₂N nanocomposite based electrochemical sensor for rapid and sensitive determination of antioxidant 6-PPD in the environment

Talanta. 2024 Jan 1;266(Pt 2):125072. doi: 10.1016/j.talanta.2023.125072. Epub 2023 Aug 12.

Authors

Zeying Yang¹, Boyong Cao², Xiaowei An³, Zhongliang Yu⁴, Wuduo Zhao¹, Fangcheng Su², Guoqing Guan⁵, Yanhao Zhang⁶, Zhengkun Xie⁷, Baoxian Ye¹

Affiliations

¹ College of Chemistry, Zhengzhou University, Kexue Avenue 100, Zhengzhou, Henan, 450001, China.
² School of Ecology and Environment, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, Henan, 450001, PR China.
³ College of Environmental Science and Engineering, Taiyuan University of Technology, Taiyuan, 030024, China.
⁴ School of Chemistry and Environmental Science, Shangrao Normal University, Shangrao, 334001, China.
⁵ Laboratory of Energy Conversion Engineering, Institute of Regional Innovation, Hirosaki University, 3 Bunkyo-cho, Hirosaki, Aomori, 036-8561, Japan.
⁶ School of Ecology and Environment, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, Henan, 450001, PR China; State Key Laboratory of Environmental and Biological Analysis, Department of Chemistry, Hong Kong Baptist University, Hong Kong SAR, PR China. Electronic address: yhzhang_chem@outlook.com.
⁷ College of Chemistry, Zhengzhou University, Kexue Avenue 100, Zhengzhou, Henan, 450001, China; School of Ecology and Environment, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, Henan, 450001, PR China; Key Laboratory of Advanced Energy Materials Chemistry (Ministry of Education), Nankai University, Tianjin, 300071, China. Electronic address: xie@zzu.edu.cn.

PMID: 37597339
DOI: 10.1016/j.talanta.2023.125072

Abstract

The rapid and sensitive determination of antioxidant N-(1,3-dimethylbutyl)-N'-phenyl-p-henylenediamine (6-PPD) in the environment is crucial for early intervention to prevent its adverse effects. Here, a reliable electrochemical sensor based on a N-C mediated γ-Mo₂N nanocomposite (γ-Mo₂N@N-C) modified carbon paste electrode (CPE) was developed and applied for selective and sensitive determination of 6-PPD. Benefiting from the superior stability and faster electron diffusion coefficient, the peak current responded to 6-PPD on the sensor linearly over a concentration range from 5 × 10^-8 mol L^-1 to 1.0 × 10^-5 mol L^-1 with a detection limit of 1.67 × 10^-8 mol L^-1 (4.48 ng mL^-1). Moreover, the sensor maintained good anti-interference ability in the determination of 6-PPD in soil samples from different regions in Zhengzhou City. Furthermore, the density functional theory (DFT) calculations combined with kinetics analysis proved that the enhanced basicity of the γ-Mo₂N@N-C facilitated the deprotonation of 6-PPD, with the preferred orientation facet of (200) in γ-Mo₂N playing a vital role in inducing the dissociation of 6-PPD, thereby improving the sensor's response. Such an electrochemical sensor, with its good stability and superior sensitivity, has the potential to be applied for real-time evaluation and monitoring of environmental pollutants.

Keywords: 6-PPD; DFT calculation; Environmental soil; Voltammetric sensor; γ-Mo(2)N.