Thiourea sensor development based on hydrothermally prepared CMO nanoparticles for environmental safety

Area of Science:

• Materials Science
• Electrochemistry
• Nanotechnology

Background:

• Development of selective and sensitive chemical sensors is crucial for environmental monitoring.
• Thiourea (TU) detection requires advanced sensing materials for accurate quantification.
• Nanoparticle-based electrochemical sensors offer high surface area and enhanced performance.

Purpose of the Study:

• To synthesize and characterize low-dimensional cobalt oxide codoped manganese oxide nanoparticles (CMO NPs).
• To develop a novel electrochemical sensor using CMO NPs for selective and sensitive thiourea detection.
• To evaluate the sensor's performance, including sensitivity, dynamic range, and stability.

Main Methods:

• Hydrothermal synthesis of CMO NPs (diameter ~25.6 nm).
• Characterization using FT-IR, UV/vis., FESEM, XEDS, XPS, TEM, and XRD.
• Fabrication of a glassy carbon electrode (GCE) modified with CMO NPs for electrochemical detection.
• Electrochemical current-voltage (I-V) measurements for thiourea quantification.

Main Results:

• CMO NPs exhibited desirable optical, morphological, and structural properties.
• The CMO NPs/GCE sensor demonstrated high sensitivity and selectivity towards thiourea.
• A wide linear dynamic range (LDR) was achieved with a low limit of detection (LOD) of 12.0±0.05 pM.
• The sensor showed excellent long-term stability.

Conclusions:

• The developed CMO NPs/GCE sensor is a highly sensitive and selective platform for thiourea detection.
• This novel approach offers a promising route for environmental monitoring applications.
• This work represents the first report on a thiourea sensor based on CMO NPs/GCE.