Hierarchical Porous NiCo2O4 array grown on Ni foam for the Simultaneous Electrochemical Detection of Copper(II) and Mercury(II)

Hierarchical porous NiCo2O4 array grown on Ni foam (NiCo2O4/NF) was synthesized by a facile one-step hydrothermal reaction and then directly applied as the binder-free electrode of electrochemical sensor. Impressively, the NiCo2O4/NF exhibited rapid detection and high sensitivity for simultaneous electrochemical detection of copper and mercury ions, in which the sensitivity was about 29.8μA/μM and 23.7μA/μM, respectively. Moreover, it also showed good repeatability and long-term stability (2.4% decrease in response over 10 testing times and 30 days). This work did not only provided a facile method of synthesis hierarchical porous NiCo2O4/NF, but also proved that the hierarchical porous layered double hydroxides could be applied in simultaneous electrochemical detection of heavy metal ions.