Design and fabrication of an innovative electrochemical sensor based on Mg-doped ZnO nanoparticles for the detection of toxic catechol

In this work, a novel approach has been carried out for the development of a sensor to detect toxic species catechol. Zinc oxide doped with magnesium was designed as a catalyst material and synthesized using the auto-combustion technique. The obtained product was confirmed by various characterization techniques like FTIR, XRD, FE-SEM, and UV-visible spectroscopic studies. Carbon paste electrode chosen as working electrode substrate was modified by the synthesized nanoparticles and employed for the detection of catechol. Well-known electroanalytical techniques like cyclic voltammetry and linear sweep voltammetry were employed for the electrochemical analysis using 0.1 M phosphate buffer saline as a supporting medium. The fabricated Mg-doped ZnO modified carbon paste electrode (Mg-ZnO/MCPE) exhibited excellent sensing properties for the detection of CC in terms of good reproducibility, stability, selectivity, and sensitivity. The diffusion-controlled electrode process was confirmed at the developed sensor and the LLOD was found to be 0.69 mu M. Moreover, a real-world sample analysis was carried out considering local tap water at the proposed sensor. Thus, the developed Mg-ZnO/MCPE demonstrated admirable electrocatalytic performance towards catechol sensing can be applied for real-time monitoring.