Selective synthesis of copper oxide nanocube for the electrochemical sensing of environmental aquatic pollutant hydroxylamine

Development of stable and advanced functionality is highly desirable for designing an electrochemical sensor for detecting a hazardous analyte. By employing a facile urea-assisted chemical precipitation method, nanocube-shaped copper (II) oxide (CuO NC) was obtained. The physiochemical characterizations of CuO NC were carried out by utilizing characterization techniques to analyze the morphology, crystal structure, elemental compositions, and functional groups present in the prepared catalyst. The prepared monoclinic CuO NC was employed for the electrochemical quantification of hydroxylamine at an applied potential of 0.6 V. The as-synthesized material achieved a lower detection limit of 0.8 μM with a linear detection range of 5–5000 μM and a sensitivity of 612 μA mM−1 cm−2. CuO NC had been successfully employed as a modifier for practical application toward the sensing of hydroxylamine in domestic pond water and ground water samples.