Sulphur doped graphitic carbon nitride composite with Zinc oxide for electrochemical determination of Hydrazine

Abstract

Hydrazine is highly toxic and widely used in chemical industry which causes environmental pollution and even has negative impact to human health. The main objective of the study was to synthesize S-g-C3N4/ZnO for electrochemical detection of hydrazine. Developing of novel environmentally friendly, cost effective and efficient material for electrochemical detection of hydrazine of great interest. The S-g-C3N4/ZnO was prepared via sol gel- polymerization method. The synthesized material was characterized by techniques such as XRD is primarily used to determine the crystal structure of materials, FTIR is a widely used analytical technique that provides valuable information about the chemical composition of materials and SEM is used to analyze and compare the morphology and structural features analysis were evaluated. The proposed composite material combines the unique properties of S- g-C3N4 and ZnO to enhance the electrochemical performance for hydrazine detection. ZnO, known for its excellent electrochemical properties and stability, further enhances the detection sensitivity of the composite. The electrochemical performance of the modified electrodes (S-g-C3N4/GCE, ZnO/GCE, and S-g-C3N4/ZnO/GCE) was evaluated for HZ detection, comparing it to a bare GCE. Optimization of electrochemical parameters was performed to enhance sensitivity. Results demonstrate that the S-g-C3N4/ZnO nanocomposite significantly improved the electrochemical detection of HZ, exhibiting enhanced sensitivity and selectivity compared to individual S-g-C3N4, ZnO, or the bare GCE. This improvement is attributed to the synergistic effect of sulfur doping and the composite formation, which increased the surface area, facilitated electron transfer, and provided more active sites, using linear-sweep voltammetry (LSV) and showed a relatively low detection limit 0.083 µM (3σ/m) with a linear range of 0.270 µM to 200 µM and good sensitivity. Overall, S-g-C3N4/ZnO is a suitable material for the metal-free and low-cost detection of HZ and may be a robust sensing platform with great potential for other sensor developments.