Developing stable and highly efficient photoactive materials is desirable to their extensive application in photoelectrochemical (PEC) sensors. Herein, a nickel−cobalt layered double hydroxides (NiCo-LDHs) cocatalyst-modified TiO 2 nanotube arrays (TiO 2 NTAs) photoelectrode (NiCo-LDHs/TiO 2 NTAs/ Ti) was fabricated and used to construct a PEC sensing platform for hexavalent chromium, Cr(VI), detection. The resultant NiCo-LDHs/TiO 2 NTAs/Ti showed higher photocatalytic water-splitting activity than the pristine TiO 2 NTAs/Ti, and an enhanced anodic photocurrent was realized at a potential of 0 V (vs Ag/AgCl). On the basis of changes of the photocurrent signal induced by the interaction between photogenerated electrons and Cr(VI) as an effective electron scavenger in solution, a PEC sensor for Cr(VI) detection was developed and showed a linearly decreased photocurrent with increasing Cr(VI) concentration between 0.5−20 μM, 20−400 μM, and 400−1800 μM with a 0.12 μM detection limit under the optimized test conditions. The method showed simplicity, excellent selectivity and sensitivity, a wide linearity range, and high stability. The prepared PEC sensor succeeded in the Cr(VI) detection of river water and tap water samples, and it presented good applicability.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.