Comparative study of NiO-ZnO/PANI-CNTs and NiO-ZnO/PANI-graphene nanocomposites for fabrication of aqueous methanol sensors
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https://doi.org/10.15625/2525-2518/19390Keywords:
polyaniline, n-p heterojunction, nickel oxide, zinc oxide, electrochemical methanol sensorAbstract
In this study, we fabricated and compared two composite interfaces, ZnO-NiO/PANI-CNTs (TNZ) and ZnO-NiO/PANI-Gr (GNZ), for electrochemical detection of methanol in aqueous media. The composite were examined by XPS, SEM, TEM, SAED, and electrochemical techniques, including cyclic voltammetry (CV) and chronoamperometry (CA). Both composites contained NiO/NiOOH-ZnO active species distributed on conductive PANI-carbon networks and were able to catalyze methanol oxidation in alkaline solution. In the presence of 100 mM methanol, TNZ produced a higher voltammetric response than GNZ, indicating more effective charge transfer through the CNT-containing PANI framework. The Ni(II)/Ni(III) redox process appeared at approximately 0.45 and 0.30 V (vs. Ag/AgCl). Chronoamperometric measurements showed a response time of about 5 s and two linear concentration ranges of 0 - 300 and 300 - 600 ppm. For the higher range, the calibration gave R² = 0.932. The response was also clearly observed in RON 92 gasoline samples containing methanol. The results demonstrate that both electrodes are applicable to methanol detection, with TNZ showing the better overall electrochemical response.
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