Construction of an electrochemical sensor based on amino-functionalized metal-organic frameworks for differential pulse anodic stripping voltammetric determination of lead

Metal-organic frameworks composite materials have received tremendous attention because of their versatile structures and tunable porosity for various applications. Herein, amino-functionalized metal-organic frameworks (NH2–Cu3(BTC)2; BTC=benzene-1,3,5-tricarboxylate) was prepared and used as a novel electrode modifier for the determination of trace levels of lead. NH2–Cu3(BTC)2 shows quite a good capability for the efficient adsorption of lead from aqueous solutions. The parameters affecting the electrochemical process, such as electrolyte solution pH, the amount of NH2–Cu3(BTC)2 suspension, accumulation potential and accumulation time, were investigated in detail. Under the optimal conditions, the electrochemical sensor exhibited a linear response to the concentration of lead in the range of 1.0×10−8–5.0×10−7 mol L−1 (R2=0.9951) with a detection limit of 5.0×10−9 mol L−1. The relative standard deviation of 11 successive scans was 3.10% for 1.0×10–8 mol L–1 lead. The method was validated with certified reference material (stream sediment and milk powder) and the analytical results coincided well with the certified values. Furthermore, the method was successfully applied to the determination of target analytes in tap and lake water samples and good recoveries were obtained from different spiked values.