Fabrication of picric acid sensor using cerium oxide-modified glassy carbon electrode

2,4,6 trinitrophenol (2,4,6-TNP) is one of the most toxic compounds that has negative impacts on plants, animals, and human life. The monitoring of 2,4,6-TNP is of great significance to avoid the negative effects on human life. In this work, we reported the fabrication of a 2,4,6-TNP sensor. The cerium oxide (CeO2) has been synthesized using a simple method. The phase and purity of the CeO2 were confirmed by the P-XRD method. The morphological properties of the CeO2 were determined by SEM and TEM. The oxidation states and elemental composition of the CeO2 were studied by XPS and EDX techniques, respectively. Furthermore, we developed the 2,4,6-TNP sensor by modifying the surface of the GC electrode with CeO2 as a catalyst. Linear sweep voltammetry (LSV) has been utilized as a sensing electro-analytical method for the determination of 2,4,6-TNP. The fabricated 2,4,6-TNP sensor exhibited a reasonably good limit of detection of 0.1 µM. The 2,4,6-TNP sensor also demonstrated good selectivity and sensitivity.