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Fabric/multi-walled carbon nanotube sensor for portable on-site copper detection in water

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Abstract

Excessive copper (as Cu(II)) in drinking water—in place through mining, farming, manufacturing operations, and municipal or industrial wastewater releases—can be a threat to human health and ecosystem wellbeing. Some sources of drinking water are remote; hence, the sensitive, selective, and portable detection of contaminated copper in drinking water sources is of great importance. Through this work, a portable fabric amperometric nanosensor has been devised via a simple dip-coating method, which is able to rapidly, sensitively, and selectively detect Cu(II) ions in a range of 0.65 to 39 ppm in real time. The prepared Cu(II) nanosensor, which operates under a low voltage, consists of three layers: electrospun nylon-6 nanofibers, multi-walled carbon nanotubes, and 2,2′:5′,2″-terthiophene molecules. Potential interfering metal ions, including Cd(II), Fe(II), Pb(II), Hg(II), and Ag(I) ions, have no significant influence on the response of the Cu(II) nanosensor. This fabric sensor—that is able to be placed in your pocket and carried about—is more portable than current technologies, while being able to detect Cu(II) on the same level necessary for potable water. We anticipate our nanosensor to be a starting point for more sophisticated and comprehensive heavy metal assay. Furthermore, this nanosensor will aid in on-site detection of Cu(II) in potential drinking water sources, lending itself well to third world and remote detection.

A polymer nanocomposite sensor has been developed for the sensitive and selective detection of copper in water.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by The University of Alabama College of Engineering.

Funding

This work was financially supported by the Texas Hazardous Waste Research Center [THWRC].

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Author notes

  1. Yang Lu and Guoqiang Yu contributed equally to this work.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Materials Engineering And Nanosensor [MEAN] Laboratory, Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, The University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, AL, 35487, USA

    Yang Lu & Evan K. Wujcik

  2. Department of Chemistry, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA, 24061, USA

    Guoqiang Yu

  3. Dan F. Smith Department of Chemical Engineering, Lamar University, Beaumont, TX, 77705, USA

    Xin Wei, Clayton Jeffryes, Suying Wei & Evan K. Wujcik

  4. Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Lamar University, Beaumont, TX, 77705, USA

    Xin Wei, Chuanxing Zhan & Suying Wei

  5. Department of Applied Chemistry, Kookmin University, Seoul, 02701, Republic of Korea

    Ju-Won Jeon

  6. Department of Materials Science and NanoEngineering, Rice University, Houston, TX, 77005, USA

    Xifang Wang

  7. Integrated Composites Laboratory [ICL], Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, The University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN, 37996, USA

    Zhanhu Guo

  8. Department of Civil, Construction, and Environmental Engineering, The University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, AL, 35487, USA

    Evan K. Wujcik

  9. Alabama Water Institute, The University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, AL, 35487, USA

    Evan K. Wujcik

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  1. Yang Lu
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  2. Guoqiang Yu
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Correspondence to Evan K. Wujcik.

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Lu, Y., Yu, G., Wei, X. et al. Fabric/multi-walled carbon nanotube sensor for portable on-site copper detection in water. Adv Compos Hybrid Mater 2, 711–719 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s42114-019-00122-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s42114-019-00122-7

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