Surfactant-assisted carbon black for the electrochemical detection of endocrine disruptors

Abstract In this paper, the detection performances of carbon black (CB) for bisphenol A (BPA) can be greatly improved by using a surfactant of cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB). The cyclic voltammetry (CV) behavior of CTAB/CB for BPA can be improved 6 times, compared with CB. The hydrophobicity of the CTAB long-chain alkyl end can enhance the enrichment ability of BPA. Meanwhile, CB can act as an electron transmission bridge to accelerate the electrons transfer to external circuit, thereby improving the sensing signal of CTAB/CB sensor for BPA. The sensor displays a linear range of 0.04 to 0.99 μM, a low detection limit of 0.013 μM and has good reproducibility and selectivity. Finally, the sensor can also be successfully used for detecting BPA in actual samples including tap water and human urine.