Construction of an electrochemical sensor towards environmental hazardous 4-nitrophenol based on Nd(OH) 3 -embedded VSe 2 nanocomposite

The toxicity of 4-nitrophenol (4-NP) is one of the most common threats to the environment; therefore, developing a simple and sensitive analytical method to detect 4-NP is crucial. In this study, we prepared the Nd(OH) 3 /VSe 2 nanocomposite using the simple hydrothermally assisted ultrasonication method and it was used to detect the 4-NP. Different characterization techniques were used to investigate the morphological and chemical compositions of Nd(OH) 3 /VSe 2 nanocomposite. All of these investigations revealed that Nd(OH) 3 nanoparticles were finely dispersed on the surface of the VSe 2 nanosheet. The electrical conductivity of our prepared samples was evaluated by the electrochemical impedance spectroscopic technique. The CV and DPV methods were used to explore the electrochemical activity of 4-NP at the Nd(OH) 3 /VSe 2 /GCE sensor which exhibited a wide linear range (0.001 to 640 µM), low limit of detection (0.008 µM), and good sensitivity (0.41 µA µM −1 cm −2 ), respectively. Additionally, Nd(OH) 3 /VSe 2 /GCE sensor was tested in water samples for the detection of 4-NP, which exhibited good recovery results. The Nd(OH) 3 /VSe 2 electrode material is a novel one for the electrochemical sensor field, and the obtained overall results also proved that our proposed material is an active material for sensor applications. Graphical Abstract