Fabrication of Bi2O3/rGO Nanocomposite: A High Performance Electrochemical Sensor for Cadmium Detection in Industrial Waste Water

In this study, a bismuth oxide/reduced graphene oxide (Bi2O3/rGO) nanocomposite was successfully synthesized and analysed using multiple analytical techniques to evaluate its properties. The resulting (Bi2O3/rGO) material was characterized using different methods. The Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) confirmed successful material functionalization, while X-ray diffraction (XRD) revealed a crystalline structure with an average particle size 30 nm. Scanning electron microscopic (SEM) images displaced rough, exfoliated surface morphology and energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS) confirmed elemental composition of carbon (60.3), oxygen (36.1%) and bismuth (3.1%). Electrochemical impendence spectroscopy (EIS) and cyclic voltammetry (CV) demonstrated enhanced electrical conductivity of Bi2O3/rGO nanocomposite as compared to the bare electrode. The fabricated sensor suggested a broad detection range of Cd2+ from 0.03 to 35 μM, with low detection and quantification limits of 0.006 to 0.02 μM respectively. The application of proposed sensor for environmental samples produced excellent recovery rates between 96% to 103%. Additionally, the sensor’s performance is superior to the previously reported work in terms of simplicity, cost effectiveness, energy saving and fast response time. This study emphasizes the potential of the Bi2O3/rGO nanocomposite as an effective material for environmental sensing applications, mainly for cadmium detection.