Chemical Research in Chinese Universities ›› 2009, Vol. 25 ›› Issue (5): 606-609.

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Detection of Trace Heavy Metals Ions by Arrays of Titania Nanotubes Annealed in Nitrogen

ZHAO Zhi-man1,2*, XIAO Peng2,3 and CAO Guo-zhong2   

  1. 1. Faculty of Civil and Architectural Engineering, Kunming University of Science and Technology, Kunming 650224, P. R. China;
    2. Department of Material Science and Engineering, University of Washington, Washington 98105, USA;
    3. Department of Physics, Chongqing University, Chongqing 400044, P. R. China
  • Received:2009-01-15 Revised:2009-03-02 Online:2009-09-25 Published:2009-12-07
  • Contact: ZHAO Zhi-man, E-mail: Zhao_zhiman@yahoo.com.cn

Abstract:

Redox response of trace heavy metals ions(THMIs) has better performance on highly ordered vertically oriented titania nanotube arrays(TNA) annealed in nitrogen. Experimental data showed that different THMIs possess different reaction peak shapes and charge and discharge capacities. Therefore, the TNA will become an important tool used for environmental protection and facilitating the rapid determination of THMIs. THMIs of 5×10–4 mol/L concentration were measured at a scan rate of 100 mV/s. The analytical utility of TNA is demonstrated in a neutral 0.5 mol/L Na2SO4 solution. The results sufficiently show that titania nanotube arrays electrodes(TNAE) will be used to measure THMIs.

Key words: Trace heavy metals ions; Redox response; Titania nanotubes arrays