Solid-state synthesized Bi@YZnO ceramic nanostructures for electrochemical monitoring of hazardous xanthine in environmental samples

We report here an efficient electrochemical sensor based on the implementation of ceramic Bi@YZnO nanocomposite (NCs) on the polished surface of glassy carbon electrode (GCE) capable of the detection and separation of xanthine (XA). The Bi@YZnO NCs were prepared by solvo-thermal method which immobilized on the flat GCE using 5% Nafion as conducting coating binder to improve conductivity and stability. The nanocomposite material was fully characterized by energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS), Field-emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and X-ray diffraction (XRD). The successful integration of the Bi@YZnO NCs and their efficient utilization in electrochemical sensing applications was validated through the cyclic voltammetry (CV) and linear sweep voltammetry (LSV) techniques. The performance of the sensors was evaluated via LSV with 20.0 mM phosphate buffer solution (PBS) at pH 7.5. It exhibited a linear response in concentration from 0.82 to 1.92 μM, having higher sensitivity of 94.937 nAμM⁻ 1 cm⁻ 2 , which was calculated from the calibration curve considering the surface area of GCE. The detection limit (LOD) and quantification limits (LOQ) were found to be 3.426 × 10⁻ 4 μM and 1.142 × 10⁻ 3 μM, respectively. Under the similar condition, the sensor displayed the high repeatability, stability and optimal pH. The fabricated Bi@YZnO NCs/Nafion equipped GCE sensor reveals the high sensitivity and low detection limit, as well as excellent reliability, making the promising candidate in the field of environment monitoring applications. The fabricated Bi@YZnO NCs/Nafion/GCE has the potential to be used in the development of environmentally worthy electrochemical sensors.