NiFe-Layered Double Hydroxide Nanosheet Arrays Supported on Carbon Cloth for Highly Sensitive Detection of Nitrite

Abstract

Excessive uptake of nitrite has been proven to be detrimental to the ecological system and human health. Hence, there is a rising requirement for constructing effective electrochemical sensors to precisely monitor the level of nitrite. In this work, NiFe-layered double hydroxide nanosheet arrays (NiFe-LDH NSAs) have been successfully fabricated on a carbon cloth (CC) substrate via a facile one-pot hydrothermal route. By integrating the collective merits of macroporous CC and NiFe-LDH NSAs such as superior electrical conductivity, striking synergistic effect between the dual active components, enlarged electrochemically active surface area, unique three-dimensional hierarchical porous network characteristics, and fast charge transport and ion diffusion, the proposed NiFe-LDH NSAs/CC architecture can be served as a self-supporting sensor toward nitrite detection. As a consequence, the resulting NiFe-LDH NSAs/CC electrode demonstrates superior nitrite sensing characteristics, accompanied by broad linear range (5-1000 μM), quick response rate (ca. 3 s), ultralow detection limit (0.02 μM), and high sensitivity (803.6 μA·mM^-1·cm^-2). Meanwhile, the electrochemical sensor possesses timeless stability, good reproducibility, and strong anti-interference feature. Importantly, the resulting sensor can determine nitrite level in tap and lake water with high recoveries, suggesting its feasibility for practical applications. These findings show that the obtained NiFe-LDH NSAs/CC electrode holds great prospect in highly sensitive and specific detection of nitrite.