One-pot synthesis of porphyrin@polypyrrole hybrid and its application as an electrochemical sensor

[Display omitted] •One-pot preparation of meso-(tetracarboxyphenyl)porphyrin@polypyrrole hybrid.•FT-IR, UV–Vis, XRD, HR-TEM indicated successful hybridization of polypyrrole and meso-(tetracarboxyphenyl)porphyrin.•Electrochemical activity of the hybrid was established by cyclic voltammetry.•meso-(tetracarboxyphenyl)porphyrin@polypyrrole was used as electrochemical Cd2+ sensor. In this work, hybrid of polypyrrole with meso-(tetracarboxyphenyl)porphyrin (TCPP@ppy) was prepared by a simple one-pot chemical oxidative polymerization method using ammonium persulfate (APS) as the oxidizing agent. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) revealed its successful formation with the presence of N–H, CO and other characteristic peaks of polypyrrole and meso-(tetracarboxyphenyl)porphyrin (TCPP) which was also corroborated by ultraviolet–visible (UV–Vis) spectroscopy and X-ray diffraction (XRD) studies with a red shifted Soret band of TCPP and a broad peak at 2θ = 23.9° including distinctive TCPP peaks respectively. This denoted that interaction took place between various components. High-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HR-TEM) micrographs of the hybrid depicted TCPP molecules to be encapsulated by ppy matrix. Cyclic voltammetry studies illustrated high electroactivity for the hybrid and ppy. Electrochemical sensor was developed using TCPP@ppy for the detection of cadmium (II) ions (Cd2+) by differential pulse voltammetry technique, thus exhibiting its application as a metal ion sensor.