Three-dimensional carbon nanofiber derived from bacterial cellulose for use in a Nafion matrix on a glassy carbon electrode for simultaneous voltammetric determination of trace levels of Cd(II) and Pb(II)

Carbon nanofibers were prepared by one-step carbonization of bacterial cellulose and used to detect Cd(II) and Pb(II). The detection limits are 0.38 μg·L−1 for Cd(II) and 0.33 μg·L−1 for Pb(II), respectively. The work was developed as a collaboration with Prof. Hu and Prod. Mamat (China). The results  are published in the journal of Microchimica Acta.

Danfeng Qin, Shanshuang Gao, Le Wang, Hangjia Shen, Nuerbiya Yalikun, Parviz Sukhrobov, Thomas Wågberg, Yujie Zhao, Xamxikamar Mamat, Guangzhi Hu.
Microchimica Acta, 184, 2759–2766 (2017)

Abstract

The authors describe the preparation of carbon nanofibers (CNFs) with a three-dimensional network structure by one-step carbonization of bacterial cellulose at 800 °C. The 3D CNFs wrapped with Nafion polymer were cast on a glassy carbon electrode (GCE) which then enables sensitive detection of Cd(II) and Pb(II). Under optimized conditions and at typical stripping peaks of around −0.80 and −0.55 V (vs Ag/AgCl), the electrode exhibits high sensitivity and a wide analytical range of 2–100 μg·L−1 for both Cd(II) and Pb(II). The detection limits are 0.38 μg·L−1 for Cd(II) and 0.33 μg·L−1 for Pb(II), respectively. The modified GCE was successfully employed to the determination of trace amounts of Cd(II) and Pb(II) in both tap water and waste water.