Fabrication of a sensitive electrochemical sensor based on Ag nanoparticles and alizarin yellow polymer: Application to the detection of an environmental pollutant thiourea

The harmful and destructive effects of excessive consumption of thiourea in various industries and agriculture have caused health and environmental concerns. Hence, attention has been paid to the need for analysis and detection thiourea at very low concentrations. The aim of this study was to determine the efficiency of electrochemical sensor based on glass carbon electrode modified with Ag nanoparticles and alizarin yellow to detect thiourea as a pollutant. Glass carbon electrode was first modified by alizarin yellow polymer and Ag nanoparticles through electropolymerization and chronoamperometry methods, respectively. The characteristics of the modified electrode were determined through FESEM and EDAX analysis and thiourea concentration was measured through cyclic voltammetry (CV) and differential pulse voltammetry (DPV) methods. The results showed that the linear range, limit of detection, and sensitivity were 10 to 940 µM, 3.3 µM and 0.181 µA/µM, respectively. The stability and reproducibility of the sensor response as well as the interference effect of some anion species were investigated on the performance of the sensor in determining thiourea. The results indicate the optimum stability and reproducibility and no interference effect of the studied species on efficiency of the sensor in determining thiourea.