Fabrication of Novel and Potential Selective 4-Cyanophenol Chemical Sensor Probe Based on Cu-Doped Gd2O3 Nanofiber Materials Modified PEDOT:PSS Polymer Mixtures with Au/μ-Chip for Effective Monitoring of Environmental Contaminants from Various Water Samples

Herein, a novel copper-doped gadolinium oxide (Cu-doped Gd2O3; CGO) nanofiber was synthesized by a simple solution method in the basic phase and successfully characterized. We have used Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR), X-ray Diffraction (XRD), Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscope (FESEM) and Energy-Dispersive Spectroscopy (EDS) techniques for characterization of the CGO nanofiber. The CGO nanofiber was used later to modify Au-coated mu-Chips with poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) polystyrene sulfonate (PEDOT:PSS) polymer mixtures (coating binder) to selectively detect 4-cyanophenol (4-CP) in an aqueous medium. Notable sensing performance was achieved with excellent sensitivity (2.4214 mu A mu M-1 cm(-2)), fast response time (similar to 12 s), wide linear dynamic range (LDR = 1.0 nM-1.0 mM: R-2 = 0.9992), ultra-low detection limit (LoD; 1.3 +/- 0.1 pM at S/N = 3), limit of quantification (LoQ; 4.33 pM), and excellent reproducibility and repeatability for CGO/Au/mu-Chip sensor. This CGO modified Au/mu-chip was further applied with appropriate quantification and determination results in real environmental sample analyses.

Automated summary

A novel copper-doped gadolinium oxide nanofiber was synthesized and characterized successfully, and used for selective detection of 4-cyanophenol on Au-coated mu-Chips. The CGO/Au/mu-Chip sensor exhibited excellent sensitivity, fast response time, wide linear dynamic range, ultra-low detection limit, and high reproducibility and repeatability. The modified sensor showed promising results in real environmental sample analyses.