Abstract
Electrode fouling has been a major problem in the analysis of phenolic compounds. This work synthesized carbon nanofiber (CNF) by electrospinning and demonstrated the anti-fouling properties of the material. The synthesized CNF was characterized by scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, Raman spectroscopy, infrared spectroscopy, electrochemical impedance spectroscopy, and cyclic voltammetry. Three electrode preparation methods were then tested including as-spun sheet, screen printing and dropcasting. The electrochemical behaviors of CNF towards a wide range of systems were demonstrated, including reversible redox processes [e.g. K4Fe(CN)(6) and catechol], the deposition and stripping of metal ions [e.g. Ag(I) and Cu(II)], and irreversible redox processes [e.g. resorcinol and bisphenol-A]. To highlight the advantages of the anti-fouling properties of CNF, we then used resorcinol which is an environmental contaminant as a model system and explored the analytical performances of CNF electrodes. The linear range of resorcinol detection was 10-250 mu M. The sensitivity and limit of detection (3s(B) m(-1)) were determined to be 0.021 mu A mu M-1 and 7.27 mu M, respectively.
