Tuning the Surface Functionality of Fe₃O₄ for Sensitive and Selective Detection of Heavy Metal Ions

The functionalization of materials for ultrasensitive detection of heavy metal ions (HMIs) in the environment is crucial. Herewith, we have functionalized inexpensive and environmentally friendly Fe₃O₄ nanoparticles with D-valine (Fe₃O₄-D-Val) by a simple co-precipitation synthetic approach characterized by XRD, FE-SEM, and FTIR spectroscopy. The Fe₃O₄-D-Val sensor was used for the ultrasensitive detection of Cd⁺², Pb⁺², and Cu⁺² in water samples. This sensor shows a very low detection limit of 11.29, 4.59, and 20.07 nM for Cd⁺², Pb⁺², and Cu⁺², respectively. The detection limits are much lower than the values suggested by the world health Organization. The real water samples were also analyzed using the developed sensor.