Flow Injection Amperometric Determination of Phenol and Chlorophenols at Single Wall Carbon Nanotube Modified Glassy Carbon Electrode

Single wall carbon nanotube modified glassy carbon electrode (SWCNT/GCE) was used for flow-injection analysis (FIA) for phenolic compounds (phenol (P), 4-chlorophenol (CP), 2,4-dichlorophenol (DCP), 2,4,6-trichlorphenol (TCP) and pentachlorophenol (PCP)). Experimental variables such as the detection potential, flow rate and pH of the carrier solution, 0.1 M sodium acetate, were optimized. Under these conditions, the designed electrode showed a very good performance for the amperometric measurements, with no need to apply a cleaning or pre-treatment procedure. The operational stability was tested with 20 repetitive injections of each analyte and was found to be good. The analytical performance of the SWCNT/GCE electrode under flow through conditions was tested and was found to be impressive. When it is compared with other enzymatic and non-enzymatic sensors, it shows wider dynamic range for the detection of phenolic compounds with low limits of detection. These results suggest that the method is quite useful for monitoring and analyzing phenols and chlorophenols.