Ceramic polyaniline-carbon composite obtained by ultrasound-assisted sol-gel route: electrochemical performance towards environmental pollutants

A new ceramic carbon polyaniline electrode material, namely Sonogel-Carbonpolyaniline (SNG-C-PANI), was synthesized using high-power ultrasound. The synthesis conditions were optimized by means of a full factorial design. The electroactivity of polyaniline, previously characterized by means of Raman spectroscopy, is retained into the sonogel matrix. After the synthesis and the subsequent characterization, the electrode material was applied in the electrochemical determination of a benchmark analyte, 4-chloro-3-methylphenol (PCMC), providing excellent figures of merit, e.g high sensitivity (5.19×103±110 μA/mM·cm2) and low limit of detection (0.36 μM), as well as suitable selectivity and reproducibility (%RSD < 4%). Besides the electroactive surface can be restored by performing a cyclic electrochemical treatment or simple mechanical polishing, minimizing fouling phenomena commonly found in conducting polymer layerbased sensors. The electrochemical detection of other chlorophenols of interest was also performed, obtaining remarkable analytical results. Finally, the electrochemical sensor was successfully applied in spiked tap water analyses.