Identification of Cadmium Compounds in a Solution Using Graphene-Based Sensor Array

Abstract

Rapid detection of heavy metals in solution is necessary to ensure human health and environmental protection. Some heavy-metal compounds are present in solution as compounds instead of as ions owing to their low ionization. Therefore, the development of sensor devices for the detection of heavy-metal compounds is important. In this study, as a proof of concept, we propose a sensor device using graphene and a chelating agent, which were used to develop an identification technique for three types of cadmium compounds. Pristine-graphene and two types of chelator-modified graphene-based sensors were successfully used to detect cadmium compounds at concentrations ranging from 50 to 1000 μM. The detection time was less than 5 min. The three type of graphene-based sensors responded differently to each cadmium compound, which indicates that they detected cadmium as a cadmium compound instead of as cadmium ions. Furthermore, we successfully identified cadmium compounds by operating these three types of sensors as a sensor array on the same substrate. The results indicate that sensors that focus on heavy-metal compounds instead of heavy-metal ions can be used for the detection of heavy metals in solution.

Ni-Fe Alloy Coatings Prepared via Jet Electrodeposition for the Optimization of the Electrochemical Detection Performance of Laser-Induced Graphene for Pb(II)

“…Commonly used sensor materials include metal materials, metal oxides, carbon materials, and biological materials [9,10]. Graphene exhibits the advantages of a large surface area and a high charge transfer capability because of its unique crystal structure [11][12][13].…”