Electrochemical Detection of 4-Nitrophenol on a Nanoporous Gold Electrode Prepared by One-Step Anode Potential Step Method

Abstract

The wastewater containing nitrophenol compounds is discharged into the water and soil environment, causing severe environmental pollution problems. In this paper, a one-step anodic potential step method involving Au(I) disproportionation was used to prepare nanoporous gold (D-NPG) electrodes for the electrochemical detection of 4-nitrophenol (4-NP) by differential pulse voltammetry (DPV). The D-NPG electrode has a high current response to the oxidation peak of 4-hydroxylaminophenol, a product of 4-NP electroreduction. This peak is used in the 4-NP detection. Under the optimized conditions, the resulting detection range is wide (0.01~20 µM) and the detection limit is low (3.5 nM), and its anti-interference ability is good. It can be used for the electrochemical detection of 4-NP in real water samples.