Development of a electrochemical sensor for the detection of 2,4-dichlorophenol using a polymer nanocomposite of rGO

In this work, an eco-friendly and cost effective synthesis of reduced graphene oxide (rGO) using Carica papaya fruit extract as reducing agent was accomplished. A composite using the synthesized rGO and molecularly imprinted polymers (MIPs) was designed. This MIPs microgel was synthesized by a simple method with 2,4-dcp (2,4-dichlorophenol) as a template and Carica papaya reduced graphene oxide (PRGO) as the functional monomer. The synthesized polymer composite was characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectrocopy, X-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscopy techniques. The electrochemical study was carried out by employing the cyclic voltammetry technique. The influencing parameters were optimized. The modified electrode showed good linear relationship in the concentration range of 0.02 to 2.0 µmol L− 1 for 2,4-dcp with a limit of quantification as 0.04 µmol L− 1. This developed sensor was found to be suitable to sense 2,4-dcp in real water samples, collected from the agricultural lands.