Electrochemical behavior of phenol and its derivatives on the electrodes based on inorgano/organo modified bentonite

Abstract

In this work glassy carbon electrode (GCE) was modified using previously prepared bentonites. Modification of bentonite was performed by replacing the exchangeable cations present in the natural bentonite with selected inorganic and organic cations, i.e. AlFeNi polyoxo cations and benzyltrimethylammonium (BTMA) cations, respectively. Obtained materials were denoted as AlFeNi-B and BTMA-B. GCE was modified by applying homogenous dispersion of either AlFe5Ni5-B or BTMA-B and 10 wt. % carbon black in the original Nafion® solution on the electrode surface. The modified GCE were tested in the acidic solution of phenolic compounds (phenol-Ph, 2-nitrophenol-2-NP and 4-nitrophenol-4-NP) by cyclic voltammetry using both single and three-component solution. The modification of GCE led to significant improvement of the electrode stability. GCE modified with both AlFeNi-B and BTMA-B exhibited lower sensitivity toward 4-NP in comparison to Ph and 2-NP indicating improved selectivity of investigated electrodes. All oxidation peaks registered in each of the single solution, were obtained in the mixt solution as well. Voltammogram recorded using GCE modified with AlFeNi-B in the mixt solution exhibited more distinguished voltammetric peaks. These results suggest that AlFeNi-B could be used as a promising electrode surface modifier for simultaneous detection of the phenol and its derivatives.