Controllable Synthesis of Neodymium Vanadate Nanowires Electrocatalyst for Sensitive Pyrocatechol Sensing Performance

Abstract

Pyrocatechol is a toxic substance which easily pollutes the environment and Nd vanadate nanowires (NdVONs) were developed for the electrochemical detection of pyrocatechol in the water environment. NdVONs were controllably synthesized via a facile hydrothermal approach using Nd trifluoromethanesulfonate and sodium vanadate. The formation mechanism of the NdVONs was investigated by controlling the synthesis parameters. The obtained nanowires possess single crystalline tetragonal NdVO₄ structure with a length of <10 µm and a diameter of 30–100 nm. There is a well-defined anodic peak at +0.12 V at the NdVON-modified electrode in 0.1 M phosphate buffer saline (PBS) electrolyte containing 1 mM pyrocatechol. The optimized measurement parameters for pyrocatechol detection including a pH value of PBS solution, a deposition time, a deposition potential, and a standing time are pH = 8, 60 s, +1.5 V, and 60 s, respectively. The NdVON-modified electrode indicates broad linear detection range of 0.01–1000 µM, a low limit of detection of 1.15 nM, a reliable stability, reproducibility, selectivity, and a practical application for pyrocatechol detection. The NdVONs are promising for pyrocatechol sensors.