Synthesis and electrochemical application of carbon nanotubes obtained from hexachloroethane

Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) with the average inner (outer) diameter of 10–20 nm (20–40 nm) and length up to 100s of nanometers were synthesized via Wurtz reaction at 400 °C for 12 h, using C2Cl6 and Na as reactants. These CNTs, having more defects because of the sp3 bonding raw material of C2Cl6, were used as electrode material to detect dopamine (DA) via cyclic voltammetry. The results show that there exists linear relation between peak currents and DA concentration in the range of 2 × 10−7∼2.8 × 10−4 mol L−1.The linear regression equation is expressed as Ip (μA) = 0.089 + 0.134c (μmol L−1). This CNTs-modified electrode showed high sensitivity with detection limit of 1 × 10−7 mol L−1.