Electrochemical sensing of nickel using modified silver nanoparticles/bismuth oxybromide graphite electrode

In this work, Silver Nanoparticles/Bismuth Oxybromide (AgNP/BiOBr) was prepared and drop casted on a graphite electrode to sense nickel ions present in aqueous matrix. The sensing behavior of the modified graphite electrode towards nickel ions was experimented using cyclic voltammetry (CV) technique. The material structure, surface morphology, functional groups and elemental composition of the synthesized AgNP/BiOBr were analyzed by X-ray diffraction study (XRD), Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscopy (FESEM) and Fourier Transform-Infra red spectroscopy (FTIR) and Energy Dispersive Spectroscopy (EDX Spectrum) respectively. The proposed electrode showed superior electrochemical performance for nickel ions detection at a pH of 11. A linear current response was observed for a nickel concentration range of 0–0.8 ppm. In addition, the nanomaterial exhibits selective adsorption capability towards nickel ions in the presence of other metal ions such as copper, zinc and iron. The limit of detection (LOD) and the limit of quantification (LOQ) of the proposed electrochemical sensor were found to be 0.0072 ppm and 0.025 ppm, respectively. The proposed sensor showed a sensitivity of 0.298 µA/ppb and a correlation coefficient ( R 2 ) value of 0.98. The obtained results for the proposed sensor signify its suitability for the detection of nickel ions with high sensitivity.