Preparation and characterization of a novel hybrid hydrogel composite of chitin stabilized graphite: Application for selective and simultaneous electrochemical detection of dihydroxybenzene isomers in water

The development of new and robust sensors for real-time monitoring of environmental pollutants have received much attention. Therefore, in the present work, we have fabricated a simple and robust electrochemical sensor for the simultaneous electrochemical determination of dihydroxybenzene isomers using chitin (CHI) stabilized graphite (GR) hydrogel composite modified electrode. The GR-CHI hydrogel composite was prepared by a simple sonication of raw GR in CHI solution and the as-prepared materials were characterized by range of physicochemical methods. Compared with CHI and GR modified electrodes, the GR-CHI hydrogel composite modified electrode shows an excellent electron transfer ability and enhanced electrocatlytic activity towards hydroguinone (HQ), catechol (CC) and resorcinol (RC). Differential pulse voltammetry was used for the simultaneous determination of HQ CC and RC. Under optimized conditions, the fabricated electrode detects the HQ CC and RC in the linear response from 02 to 110.6 mu M, 03 to 110.6 mu M and 13 to 133.4 mu M, respectively. The detection limit for HQ CC and RC were 0.065 mu M, 0.085 mu M and 035 mu M, respectively. The sensor shows its appropriate practicality towards the determination of HQ CC and RC in different water samples. (C) 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.