Sustainable and degradable electrochemical sensor from bamboo substrate with in-situ polymerized PPy and electrochemical deposited dendric nano-Ag

The challenge in environmental pollution urgently demands sustainable and green materials as new material candidates for electrochemical sensors. In this study, bamboo derived from abundant and renewable resources is considered as a functional and sustainable substrate material for electrochemical sensor. Novel bn-Ag@PPy/BC electrochemical sensor is prepared by in-situ polymerization of polypyrrole (PPy) on bamboo chips (PPy/BC) then electrochemical deposition of dendric nano Ag on PPy/BC. Various structural characterizations of bn-Ag@PPy/BC indicate that bamboo chips are encased by PPy and dendric nano Ag were homogeneously distributed on the PPy/BC. The bn-Ag@PPy/BC shows high sensitivity as 205 μA mM−1 cm−2 with good linearity in the formaldehyde concentration range of 0-4.5 mmol/L. Meanwhile, bn-Ag@PPy/BC presents high selectivity and excellent reproducibility (RSD=3.66%). Moreover, bn-Ag@PPy/BC exhibits excellent degradation properties with weight residual of 83.66% during 57 days’ degradation in soil, which is much better than some degradable materials. The bn-Ag@PPy/BC will be a promising candidate for cost effective, degradable, sustainable and environmentally friendly electrochemical sensor.