Electroanalytical determination of the linuron herbicide using a cathodically pretreated boron-doped diamond electrode: comparison with a boron-doped diamond electrode modified with platinum nanoparticles

Abstract

The determination of linuron using differential-pulse voltammetry (DPV) and a cathodically pretreated boron-doped diamond electrode is proposed. Cyclic voltammetry results showed one irreversible oxidation peak for linuron at 1.29 V (vs. Ag/AgCl (3.0 mol L⁻¹ KCl)) in 0.04 mol L⁻¹ Britton–Robinson (BR) buffer solution (pH 2.0). Under optimized DPV conditions, a linear analytical curve was obtained for the linuron concentration range of 0.61–26.0 μmol L⁻¹ with a detection limit of 0.18 μmol L⁻¹. Similar responses (linearity and sensitivity) were obtained employing a boron-doped diamond electrode modified with platinum nanoparticles. The proposed method was successfully applied in the determination of linuron in natural water samples with recoveries ranging from 90.9% to 104%.