γ-Fe2O3/CNTs Composites for Electrochemical Detection of Paracetamol: Synthesis, Phase Transition and Enhanced Properties

In this work, γ-Fe2O3/CNTs composite was facile synthesized by simple hydrothermal method and hydrazine hydrate treatment at low temperature (CNTs = carbon nanotubes). The result of VSM shows that the saturation magnetization of Fe2O3/CNTs composites increase from 0 to 1.29 emu g−1 after hydrazine hydrate treatment, indicating that the Fe2O3 in the composite transforms from α phase to γ phase. Moreover, the electrochemical properties of both α-Fe2O3/CNTs and γ-Fe2O3/CNTs was studied. Compared with α-Fe2O3/CNTs, γ-Fe2O3/CNTs shows enhanced electrochemical performance toward paracetamol determination. Under optimum condition, the γ-Fe2O3/CNTs modified electrode exhibits two linear ranges of 2.5 μM−385 μM and 593 μM−1550 μM and a low detection limit of 0.046 μM. In addition, the constructed sensor can be successfully utilized for detecting paracetamol in different water bodies. This work provides a new clue for the design and construction of excellent electrochemical sensor for paracetamol determination.