Antimony nanomaterials modified screen-printed electrodes for the voltammetric determination of metal ions

Exfoliated beta-Sb or two dimensional (2D) antimonene-based modified screen-printed electrode (2D Sb SPCE), prepared by drop-casting of an exfoliated layered beta-antimony (2D Sb) suspension, was used for the simultaneous determination of Pb(II) and Cd(II) by differential pulse anodic stripping voltammetry (DPASV). 2D Sb SPCE was characterized by microscopic and analytical techniques, and compared not only to bare SPCE but also to layered antimony chalcogenides based-sensors. Both Sb2Te3 and Sb2Te3 have an isomorphous tubular one-dimensional (1D) crystal structure, whereas Sb2Te3 and monoelement beta-Sb have a 2D layered structure. Under optimized conditions, 2D Sb-SPCE displays an excellent analytical performance with detection limits of 0.3 and 2.7 mu g L-1 for Pb(II) and Cd(II), respectively, and a linear response from 1.1 to 128.3 mu g L-1 for Pb(II) and from 9.1 to 132.7 mu g L-1 for Cd(II). Moreover, 2D Sb-SPCE was successfully applied for the DPASV determination of Pb(II) and Cd (II) in tap water, achieving statistically comparable results to those provided by ICP-MS measurements.