Quaternarization strategy to ultrathin lamellar graphitic C3N4 ionic liquid nanostructure for enhanced electrochemical 2,4-Dichlorophenol sensing

We have developed a facile quaternarization strategy to an ultrathin lamellar g-C 3 N 4 ionic liquid nanostructure (IL-CNNS) via a nucleophilic substitution between the tertiary amino groups in tri- s -triazine subunits and n-butyl bromide. After functionalization, the obtained IL-CNNS composite exhibits the enhanced conductivity, dispersibility and stability owing to the formation of IL structure. This composite has been characterized by several spectroscopic techniques (FT-IR, XRD, XPS, TGA and TEM). The IL-CNNS modified electrode displays the larger effective surface area and the faster electron transfer rate, hence resulting in the superior electrocatalytic activity toward 2,4-Dichlorophenol (2,4-DCP). Under the optimal conditions, the proposed 2,4-DCP sensor gives rise to the wide linear range from 0.02 to 160 μM with a low detection limit (6.21 nM, S/N = 3) by amperometric method. The developed sensor has been applied to detect 2,4-DCP in water samples with satisfactory recoveries and stability. This quaternarization strategy may open up a new avenue to fabricate the layered carbon nitride IL nanostructure for electrochemical sensing applications.