Anchoring CeF₃ nanoparticles on porous carbon nanofibers as self-supporting electrodes for highly sensitive detection...

Designing a working electrode is crucial for the reliable electrochemistry detection, which is applied to detect toxic and harmful substances sensitively and rapidly. Here we report the polytetrafluoroethylene decomposition-assisted electrospinning, a combination method for creating nanopore and synthesizing CeF₃, to prepare the self-supporting electrode of CeF₃ nanoparticles-anchored on porous carbon nanofibers (CeF₃/PCNFs) for highly sensitive nitrite detection. The CeF₃/PCNFs exhibits remarkable electroactivity toward nitrite detection, featuring a wide concentration range (0.5 μM-6 mM), low detection limit (10 nm) and high sensitivity (2093 μA mM^-1 cm^-2). It also exhibits excellent selectivity, stability and reproducibility, and powerful reliability for nitrite detection in saliva, pickles, sausages, chips, river water and tap water. This study provides a facile strategy to prepare the metal fluoride-based self-supporting electrode, which overcomes the disadvantages of chemically modified electrodes unstable and poorly reproducible, and is significant for clinical diagnosis, food safety and environmental monitoring.