Functionalization of platinum nanoparticles for electrochemical detection of nitrite

In this work, a novel electrochemical method for nitrite detection by using functionalized platinum nanoparticles (PtNPs) is proposed. Firstly, a gold electrode is immobilized with 4-(2-aminoethyl)benzenamine. Then, PtNPs are modified with 5-[1, 2]dithiolan-3-yl-pentanoic acid [2-(naphthalene-1-ylamino)-ethyl]amide (DPAN). Consequently, in the presence of nitrite ions, Griess reaction occurs between 4-(2-aminoethyl)benzenamine on the electrode and DPAN on PtNPs, thus PtNPs are localized onto the electrode surface. So, PtNPs-electrocatalyzed reduction of H2O2 can be achieved to correlate the electrochemical signal with the concentration of nitrite ions. The linear concentration range can be as wide as 10–1,000 μM, while the detection limit is as low as 5 μM. The proposed method has been also successfully applied to the detection of nitrite with the local lake water, and the result is well consistent with that obtained by UV-visible spectrophotometric method. So, this method has potential use for monitoring nitrite in drinking water supplies in the future.