Sensor prospect of iodine-doped ZnO materials for ethyl paraben detection

Abstract

This research aimed to fabricate and characterize IxZnO electrodes as electrochemical sensors to detect Parabens. IxZnO (x = 0, 0.025, 0.05, 0.075, and 0.1) materials were produced via an ultrasound post-heated method based on the sol-gel method. The prepared electrodes have been the subject of electrochemical tests like cyclic voltammetry and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy to evaluate their electrochemical performance. The electrochemical behavior of IxZnO electrodes in the presence of ethyl paraben was determined by cyclic voltammetry. The I0.05ZnO electrode provided the best signal detection against the molecule target. The sensor demonstrated a linear response for the detection of ethyl paraben in both ranges 100-800 mu M (R-2 = 0.9935) and 1000-10000 mu M (R-2 = 0.9985) at similar to 0.8 V vs SCE), by a detection limit of 14.09 mu M. Additionally, the produced electrode might be used to determine the ethyl paraben content in cosmetics in general and shampoo in particular with a precision of HPLC equipment. This study demonstrates the high electrochemical performance of the I0.05ZnO electrode for the detection of ethyl paraben in real conditions and offers an alternative to the expensive analytical techniques.