Citation:

Tajik, S., H. Beitollahi, F. Nejad, Z. Dourandish, M. Khalilzadeh, H. Jang, R. Venditti, R. Varma, AND M. Shokouhimehr. Recent Developments in Polymer Nanocomposite-Based Electrochemical Sensors for Detecting Environmental Pollutants. INDUSTRIAL & ENGINEERING CHEMISTRY RESEARCH. American Chemical Society, Washington, DC, 60(3):1112-1136, (2021). https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.iecr.0c04952

Impact/Purpose:

The growth of industrial and agricultural activities has created increase in global environmental pollution which is damaging to the ecosystem and lead to a variety of health issues affecting humans throughout the world. Therefore, newer, faster and inexpensive electro-chemical sensors are being developed that enjoy robustness, selectivity, sensitivity, and real-time measurements. Considerable advancements in nanomaterials-based electro-chemical sensor platforms have helped to generate new technologies to ensure environmental and human safety. Electrochemical sensors as a novel approach is known for monitoring and detecting environmental pollutants which include heavy metal ions, pesticides, phenolic compounds, nitroaromatic compounds, nitrite and hydrazine in different mediums. The technology can be widely deployed by local municipal and state organizations for faster real-time detection of pollutants.

Description:

The growth of industrial and agricultural activities has created increase in environmental pollution worldwide. Environmental pollutants are damaging to the ecosystem and lead to a variety of health issues affecting humans throughout the world regardless of their age, race, and gender. The human population is usually subjected to diverse pollutants and contaminants in the environment like those in the air, soil, foodstuffs, and drinking water. Therefore, the development of novel purification techniques and efficient detection devices for pollutants is an important challenge. To date, experts in the field have designed distinctive analytical procedures for the detection of pollutants including gas chromatography/mass spectrometry and atomic absorption spectroscopy. While the mentioned procedures enjoy high sensitivity, they suffer from being laborious, expensive, require advanced skills for operation, and are inconvenient to deploy as a result of their massive size. Therefore, in response to the above-mentioned limitations, electro-chemical sensors are being developed that enjoy robustness, selectivity, sensitivity, and real-time measurements. Considerable advancements in nanomaterials-based electro-chemical sensor platforms have helped to generate new technologies to ensure environmental and human safety. Recently, investigators have expanded considerable effort to utilize polymer nanocomposites for building the electrochemical sensors in view of their promising features like very good electro-catalytic activities, higher electrical conductivity, and effective surface area in comparison to the traditional polymers. Herein, the review summarizes the current utilization of polymer nanocomposites for the preparation of electrochemical sensors as a novel approach for monitoring and detecting environmental pollutants which include heavy metal ions, pesticides, phenolic compounds, nitroaromatic compounds, nitrite and hydrazine in different mediums. Finally, the current challenges and future directions for the polymer nanocomposites-based electrochemical sensing of environmental pollutants are outlined.

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