Metal and metal oxide nanoparticles in the voltammetric detection of heavy metals: A review

Abstract

Most heavy metal ions are known to be toxic and carcinogenic when present in high amounts. Thus, rapid and reliable on-site detection of these ions is crucial. Voltammetry is a highly sensitive electrochemical method that has been widely used for heavy metal detection offering the advantages of sensitivity and rapidity. On the other hand, nanoparticles offer the advantages of high surface area and high selectivity. Thus, this review aims to highlight the application of metallic and metallic oxide nanoparticles for the voltammetric detection of heavy metals. The nanoparticles used were either applied solely on the electrode or as modifiers with various materials. In all cases, the synthesized devices showed an enhanced analytical performance, such that the limits of detection were lowered and the sensitivities were increased as compared to voltammetric systems not using nanoparticles. Moreover, the applicability of some of these systems was investigated in real samples.

Metal Nanoparticles and Carbon-Based Nanomaterials for Improved Performances of Electrochemical (Bio)Sensors with Biomedical Applications

“…Other metal NPs with attractive properties are: Palladium NPs and various binary and ternary combination of metal NPs as oxides, sulfides or metallic form (Bi 2 S 3 , ZnO, CuO, Co 3 N, Co 3 O 4 , Ni/ZnO, MoS 2 , IrO 2 , NiO, TiO 2 , PbS, Pd@Pt, Ni-Co@Pt, etc.) with different morphology (nanowires, nanosheets, nanofibers, nanoflakes, nanotubes, nanorods, core-shell) [ 114 , 115 ]. They can act as electrocatalyst (bimetallic and trimetallic NPs have synergic effect), but also are widely used as electrode modifiers with bioanalytical applications [ 116 , 117 , 118 , 119 , 120 , 121 ].…”

Sonochemical activation-assisted biosynthesis of Au/Fe3O4 nanoparticles and sonocatalytic degradation of methyl orange

“…In recent years, the magnetic-plasmonic materials have been widely studied due to their applications as bifunctional nanomaterials in several areas, including biology, biomedicine, bio-labelling, optics, electronics and catalysis [1] , [2] , [3] . Generally, the magnetic-plasmonic materials are composed in their magnetic part by superparamagnetic iron oxides nanoparticles (SPION), which are employed in wastewater treatment, heterogeneous catalysis, drug delivery, cancer treatment, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), biological separation, photocatalysis and hyperthermia [4] , [5] , [6] . Regarding the plasmonic part, are composed of a noble metal such as Au.…”

MnO2@Reduced Graphene Oxide Nanocomposite-Based Electrochemical Sensor for the Simultaneous Determination of Trace Cd(II), Zn(II) and Cu(II) in Water Samples

“…For this reason, there is an ongoing research on the development of rapid and friendly-user techniques for trace heavy metals detection suitable for in situ monitoring assays [ 17 ]. Among the different electrochemical techniques, stripping voltametric methods are the most reported for heavy metals detection due to their excellent detection limits, sensitivity, ability to determine multielement, and relatively low-cost instrumentation [ 18 , 19 ].…”