Abstract

This paper reports the greatly improved electrochemical properties of Prussian blue/carbon nanotubes (PB/CNTs) modified glassy carbon electrode via a room temperature ionic liquid (RTIL) treatment. Firstly, the GC electrodes were modified with nanocomposites of RTIL/CNTs. Then, the PB nanopartides were electrodeposited onto the modified electrode surface. Compared with the PB/CNTs/GC, the PB/RTIL/CNTs/GC electrodes showed higher PB surface concentration value of 2.42 x 10(-9) mol cm(-2), indicating that PB deposition efficiency was improved by 1.8 fold. The apparent diffusion coefficient for K+ displayed value of 5.77 x 10(-11) cm(2) s(-1), which was one order of magnitude higher than that in the absence of RTIL. PB/RTIL/CNTs/GC modified electrodes showed higher electron transfer rate of 2.44s(-1) (2.35 times as much as that of PB/CNTs/GC electrodes). RTIL modified electrodes also displayed high sensitivity toward H2O2 reduction (185.90 mu A mM(-1) cm(-2)) with low detection limit of 0.49 mu M. The RTIL modified electrodes stored dry at room temperature preserved almost 100 of their initial currents over a period of 1 month, a useful property for commercial applications. (C) 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.