1D GNR‐PPy Composite for Remarkably Sensitive Detection of Heavy Metal Ions in Environmental Water**

Abstract

The work reported here exploits the extraordinary features of graphene nanoribbons (GNR) and well‐known conductive polypyrrole (PPy) polymer to develop a very good electrochemically active composite for sensing metal ions. A strong hydrogen bond and π‐π interaction between the two components facilitates an enhanced conductive 3D network that has been used to design and fabricate an electrochemical sensor for selective and sensitive determination of Pb2+ ions by differential pulse voltammetry (DPV). The probe has been further extended to simultaneously detect Zn2+, Cd2+, As2+, Cu2+, Pb2+, Fe2+ and Hg2+ ions. Moreover, the larger effective surface area, higher porosity and chelating groups of composite promotes better adsorption‐stripping process of Pb2+ ions, leading to a high detection limit of 0.03 nM with a sensitivity of 0.7557 μA μM−1cm−2. This study is extended to detect heavy metal ions in lake water samples, demonstrating promising applications in real time (environmental) samples, and the study shows a deviation of ≈10 %, when validated with atomic absorption spectroscopy studies.

Recent Advances in Conductive Polymers-Based Electrochemical Sensors for Biomedical and Environmental Applications

“…The preparation and implementation of hydrogels in electrochemical sensors offer a viable approach for the electrochemical capture and detection of diverse hazardous materials in solution, thereby presenting significant prospects for commercial applications. The group led by Kulkarni has also developed a sensor utilizing PPy to detect HMIs, effectively combining the exceptional properties of graphene nanoribbons (GNR) with conductive PPy [ 149 ]. GNR was synthesized via the MWCNT decompression method, while GNR/PPy was synthesized through in situ polymerization.…”

Ni Single Atoms Embedded in Graphene Nanoribbon Sieves for High‐Performance CO2 Reduction to CO

“…Notably, the GNRs obtained through chemical oxidation yield abundant oxygen‐containing function groups and show a strong affinity for ions absorption. [ 30 ] Therefore, these advantages make GNRs a superior candidate as the substrate for SACs.…”