Ag@NiO/g-C3N4 nanocomposite: an efficient and high-performance electrochemical sensor for acetaminophen detection

Abstract

An efficient and highly sensitive Ag@NiO/g-C₃N₄ nanocomposite for the detection of acetaminophen (AAP), a commonly used antipyretic and analgesic drug, is synthesized through a simple sol–gel ultrasonic treatment process. The reduction of the diffraction peak intensity and shift in the diffraction angle in the XRD pattern validate the successful formation of the Ag@NiO/g-C₃N₄ nanocomposite. EDX, along with elemental mapping analysis, revealed the uniform distribution of Ag@NiO on the surface of the g-C₃N₄ materials, which confirms the strong interface between these materials. Furthermore, the presence of functional groups and their interactions between these materials in the composite were determined using FT-IR analysis. An Ag@NiO/g-C₃N₄ nanocomposite modified glassy carbon electrode (GCE) was fabricated, and its electrochemical activity towards AAP detection was investigated using cyclic voltammetry and differential pulse voltammetry (DPV) with 0.1 M PBS at pH = 7.0. The developed Ag@NiO/g-C₃N₄/GCE showed excellent electrocatalytic activity and a large surface area, which are useful for the sensing of AAP. The DPV results showed that the current responses increased linearly in the AAP concentration range from 10 μM to 1.0 mM, and the lower limit of detection (S/N = 3) was determined to be 0.76 μM. In addition, the Ag@NiO/g-C₃N₄/GCE demonstrated excellent selectivity towards acetaminophen in the presence of potentially interfering species (glucose, ascorbic acid, uric acid, NaCl, CaCl₂ and KCl). The results indicate that the Ag@NiO/g-C₃N₄ nanocomposite represents a potential sensor material and offer a way forward for the development of cost-effective nanocomposite-based sensors for the detection of pollutants in the environment.