Nanoporous Gold-Modified Screen-Printed Electrodes for the Simultaneous Determination of Pb 2+ and Cu 2+ in Water.

In this study, nanoporous gold (NPG) was deposited on a screen-printed carbon electrode (SPCE) by the dynamic hydrogen bubble template (DHBT) method to prepare an electrochemical sensor for the simultaneous determination of Pb 2+ and Cu 2+ by square wave anodic stripping voltammetry (SWASV). The electrodeposition potential and electrodeposition time for NPG/SPCE preparation were investigated thoroughly. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and energy-dispersive X-ray diffraction (EDX) analysis confirmed successful fabrication of the NPG-modified electrode. Electrochemical characterization exhibits its superior electron transfer ability compared with bare and nanogold-modified electrodes. After a comprehensive optimization, Pb 2+ and Cu 2+ were simultaneously determined with linear range of 1-100 μg/L for Pb 2+ and 10-100 μg/L for Cu 2+ , respectively. The limits of detection were determined to be 0.4 μg/L and 5.4 μg/L for Pb 2+ and Cu 2+ , respectively. This method offers a broad linear detection range, a low detection limit, and good reliability for heavy metal determination in drinking water. These results suggest that NPG/SPCE holds great promise in environmental and food applications.