A novel voltammetric sensor for sensitive detection of mercury(II) ions using glassy carbon electrode modified with graphene-based ion imprinted polymer

In this paper, a novel strategy was proposed to prepare ion-imprinted polymer (IIP) on the surface of reduced graphene oxide (RGO). Polymerization was performed using methacrylic acid (MAA) as the functional monomer, ethylene glycol dimethacrylate (EGDMA) as the cross-linker, 2,2′-((9E,10E)-1,4-dihydroxyanthracene-9,10-diylidene) bis(hydrazine-1-carbothioamide) (DDBHCT) as the chelating agent and ammonium persulfate (APS) as initiator, via surface imprinted technique. The RGO-IIP was characterized by means of Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). The electrochemical procedure was based on the accumulation of Hg(II) ions at the surface of a modified glassy carbon electrode (GCE) with RGO-IIP. The prepared RGO-IIP sensor has higher voltammetric response compared to the non-imprinted polymer (NIP), traditional IIP and RGO. The RGO-IIP modified electrode exhibited a linear relationship toward Hg(II) concentrations ranging from 0.07 to 80 μg L- 1. The limit of detection (LOD) was found to be 0.02 μg L- 1 (S/N = 3), below the guideline value from the World Health Organization (WHO). The applicability of the proposed electrochemical sensor to determination of mercury(II) ions in different water samples was reported.