Development of Morphologically Tunable Cobalt-Zeolitic Framework with Copper Nanowires: A Bifunctional Catalyst for the Analysis of Nitrobenzene and Ortho-Nitrobenzaldehyde in Environmental Effluents

Hazardous nitroaromatic compounds are a top-priority environmental pollutant and extremely harmful to human health and ecological systems. Hence, selective and ultra-sensitive quantitative analysis of nitroaromatic target detection is highly important nowadays. In this report, we designed and successfully developed the morphologically tunable hybrid composite nature of the cobalt-zeolitic framework (CZ) with copper nanowires (CNW). The morphological structure was highly controlled by switching different weight ratios of CNW into the CZ. Morphological and spectral analysis revealed the developed system is composite with mesoporous properties. Followed by, the designed catalyst was applied to catalytic reduction and electrochemical simultaneous with sensitive sensing of nitrobenzene (NB) and ortho-nitrobenzaldehyde (ONBA). The optimized modified electrode surface exhibited first-rate catalytic activity, the ultra-sensitive limit of detection of 5.3nM and 2.6nM (S/N = 3) with a linear response range of 20nM – 1mM and 10nM – 1.5mM for ONBA and NB. The selectivity of the system is evaluated in the presence of twelve potentially interfering analytes (including phenols, metal ions, and bio-molecules). As an added benefit, the CNWCZ/GCE was used to quantify the detection targets in real industrial water samples, with high-rate recoveries of 96.60–99.68±0.05%, and the electrochemical result was validated by standard analytical methods. Furthermore, the catalytic degradation of NB and ONBA was tested and achieved more than 91.63±1.13% degradation within 10 and 15minutes for NB and ONBA, and facile kinetic rate reactions. The developed research findings suggest that catalysts can be used to dual-analyze NB and its derivatives.