Pentachlorophenol (PCP), as one of the common pesticide and preservatives, is easily accumulated in living organisms. Considering the high toxicity of PCP, the development of an effective and sensitive inspection method to determine the residual trace amounts of PCP continues to be a significant challenge. Herein, a convenient and sensitive electrochemical sensor is constructed by modifying glassy carbon electrode with cerium dioxide ( CeO2) nanoparticles anchored graphene ( CeO2-GR) to detect trace PCP. Benefiting from the two-dimensional lamellar structural advantages, the extraordinary electron-transfer properties, as well as the intensive coupling effect between CeO2 nanoparticles and graphene, the afforded CeO2- GR electrode nanomaterial possesses excellent electrocatalytic activity for the oxidation of PCP. Under the optimum synthetic conditions, the PCP oxidation peak currents of developed CeO2– GR sample exhibit a wide linear range of 5–150 μM. Moreover, the corresponding detection limit of PCP on the CeO2– GR electrode is as low as 0.5 μM. Apart from providing a promising electrochemical sensor, this work, most importantly, promotes an efficient route for the construction of highly active sensing electrode materials.

CeO2 nanoparticles, employed in a lot of fields due to their excellent oxidation and reduction properties, are synthesized through a solvothermal process, and a high specific surface area is shown by controlling, among various process parameters in the solvothermal process, the type of solvent. The synthesized CeO2 nanoparticles are about 11~13 nm in the crystallite size and their specific surface area is about 65.38~84.65 m2/g, depending on the amount of ethanol contained in the solvent for the solvothermal process; all synthesized CeO2 nanoparticles shows a fluorite structure. The dispersibility and microstructure of the synthesized CeO2 nanoparticles are investigated according to the species of dispersant and the pH value of the solution; an improvement in dispersibility is shown with the addition of dispersants and control of the pH. Various dispersing properties appear according to the dispersant species and pH in the solution with the synthesized CeO2 nanoparticles, indicating that improved dispersing properties in the synthesized CeO2 nanoparticles can be secured by applying dispersant and pH control simultaneously.

본 연구에서는 CeO2 표면에 Ti(SO4)2의 가수 분해를 이용하여 TiO2를 성장시켜 코어-쉘 구조를 가지는 세라믹 나노입자를 합성 하였다. CeO2/TiO2 코어-쉘 합성에서는 CeO2:TiO2의 몰비, 반응 시간, 반응 온도, CeO2 슬러리 농도, Ti(SO4)2의 pH 조절을 통하여 코어-쉘 구조를 가지는 최적의 합성 조건을 찾았다. CeO2:TiO2의 최적의 몰비는 1:0.2~1.1, 최적의 반응 시간은 24 시간, 최적의 CeO2 슬러리 농도는 1%, 최적의 반응 온도는 50℃임을 알 수 있었다. NH4OH 수용액을 이용하여 Ti(SO4)2 의 pH를 1로 맞추어 CeO2 슬러리에 적하하면 10%의 농도를 가지는 CeO2 슬러리에서도 CeO2/TiO2 코어-쉘 나노 입자를 합성할 수 있었다. 80℃이상의 높은 온도에서 반응을 시키면 CeO2/TiO2 코어-쉘 구조가 아닌 독립된 TiO2 나노 입자를 형성함을 알 수 있었다. 최적의 반응 온도는 50℃로서 가장 좋은 구조의 CeO2/TiO2 코어-쉘이 합성되었다.