Two-dimensional Ni/Co bimetal pyrophosphate nanosheets for sensitive electrochemical detection of phenol

In this work, a novel electrochemical sensor has been constructed for the simultaneous detection of phenol based on the 2D nickel cobalt pyrophosphate nanosheets. The nickel cobalt pyrophosphate was prepared by a facile hydrothermal method. The prepared 2D nickel cobalt pyrophosphate nanosheet was characterized by X-ray diffraction, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and scanning electron microscopy. The bimetal nickel cobalt pyrophosphate exhibited favorable catalytic activity in phenol detection. The excellent sensing performance of nickel cobalt pyrophosphate was attributed to its charge transfer mobility and abundant catalytic sites. The nickel cobalt bimetal pyrophosphate was applied to modify glass carbon electrode (GCE) and the obtained sensor processed satisfactory analytic performance in practical detection of phenol. The fabricated electrochemical sensor also exhibited a limit of detection of 0.25   μM and a linear range of 0.5-100   μM using square wave voltammetry (SWV) toward phenol. Besides, the electrochemical sensor showed desirable selectivity, long-term stability and reliable recoveries in real sample test.