Synthesis of graphene aerogels using rejected graphite anode of car battery for sensing Cd(II) and As(III) heavy metal ions in water by screen printed electrode device

In spite of the discrete standards, the lack of proper implementation has led to alarming water pollution levels. The hazardous effect of pollutants like heavy metal ions (HMIs) on human health and the environment have led to an acute need of efficient and portable electrochemical sensors for monitoring the water quality. In the present study, screen printed electrode modified with synthesised reject anode graphene aerogel (RAGA) was used for sensing heavy metal ions successfully for the first time to the best of our knowledge. The successful utilisation of electric battery waste is also key for waste management. This reuse of the graphite anode of battery waste for the synthesis of graphene aerogel has been demonstrated here, and the screen-printed electrodes modified with GAs showed an excellent limit of detection (LOD) of 11.05 and 6.74 nM for Cd(II) and As(III), respectively, in simultaneous detection. RAGA modified screen printed electrode (SPE) device showed good sensitivity of 2.23 µA/nMcm2 for Cd(II) and 1.77 µA/nMcm2 for As(III) during simultaneous detection. Developed electrochemical sensors were successfully tested in real conditions, in the river drinking water of Mallupalli Village (India).