ZnO/CNT-COOHs based solid-state ECL sensor for tetracycline detection in fishpond water

A sensitive electrochemiluminescence (ECL) sensor in solid-state for the detection of tetracycline (TET), based on carboxylated carbon nanotubes modified ZnO (CNT-COOHs/ZnO), was developed in this research. The ZnO, which worked as luminophore here, was an environment-friendly material. Resulted from its tremendously specific surface area, the loading amount of CNT-COOHs increased. The CNT-COOHs played a role of catalyzer to enhance the ECL intensity of CNT-COOHs/ZnO modified glass carbon electrode (GCE) in triethanolamine (TEOA) contained electrolyte. After adding TET in the solution, the ECL intensity significantly quenched. The ΔECL intensity showed a good correlation to the concentration of TET in the range of 1.0 × 10 –8 –1.0 × 10 –4  M and the detection limit achieved to 6.7 × 10 –9  M within a response time of 1.0 min. Furthermore, the proposed CNT-COOHs/ZnO based ECL sensor was applied for the detection of TET in fishpond water and exhibited a good accuracy. We believe our system supplied a potential platform for the detection of TET in real world.