Electrodeposition of electroreduced graphene oxide-Au nanoparticles composite film at glassy carbon electrode for anodic stripping voltammetric analysis of trace arsenic(III)

An electroreduced graphene oxide (ERGO)-Au nanoparticles (AuNPs) composite film was electrodeposited on a glassy carbon electrode (GCE) by cyclic voltammetry. The fabricated ERGO-AuNPs/GCE was used to determine trace As(III) in 0.20 M aqueous HCl by anodic stripping voltammetry (ASV). An electrochemical quartz crystal microbalance (EQCM) was used to trace the film-formation processes and detect the interactions of arsenic species with the ERGO-AuNPs film. Under optimum conditions (preconcentration at −0.35 V for 400 s in 0.20 M aqueous HCl), the ASV current peak by linear sweep voltammetry was linear with As(III) from 0.01 to 5 μM, with a sensitivity of 12.2 μA/μM and a limit of detection (LOD) of 2.7 nM (0.20 ppb, S/N = 3). This method was successfully applied for analyses of As(III) in real water samples.