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Magnetic Fe3O4 nanoparticles decorated phosphorus-doped biochar-attapulgite/bismuth film electrode for smartphone-operated wireless portable sensing of ultra-trace multiple heavy metal ions

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Abstract

Pollution caused by both forestry wastes and heavy metals has increasingly drawn attention owing to environmental safety concerns. After essential oil is extracted from Cinnamomum camphoras (L.), the branches are used as forestry wastes to prepare a phosphorus-doped biochar–attapulgite/bismuth film electrode decorated with magnetic Fe3O4 nanoparticles (MBA-BiFE). The smartphone-operated wireless portable sensor is employed for the simultaneous ultratrace voltammetric detection of multiple heavy metal ions (Cd2+, Pb2+, and Hg2+). Cd2+, Pb2+, and Hg2+ exhibit excellent electrochemical responses in linear ranges of 0.1 nM–5 μM, 0.01 nM–7 μM, and 0.1 nM–3 μM with limits of detection equal to 0.036, 0.003, and 0.011 nM, respectively. The recoveries of MBA–BiFE for Cd2+, Pb2+, and Hg2+ are 93.6–109.9%, 86.0–107.5%, and 94.8–104.6%, respectively, and the RSD values for repeated measurements of Cd2+, Pb2+, and Hg2+ are 4.2%, 2.8%, and 3.3%, respectively. A machine learning model based on an artificial neural network algorithm is constructed to enable a smart determination of ultratrace hazardous multiple metal ions. The portable sensor based on the screen-printed integrated three-electrode sensor modified using MBA-BiFE demonstrates advantages and practicability in outdoor detection, compared with conventional sensors based on MBA-BiFE. This study provides a smartphone-operated wireless portable sensing technique for high-potential applications in environmetallomics or agrometallomics using forestry waste-derived biochar as substrate for electrode preparation.

Highlights

• Fe3O4 decorated phosphorus-doped biochar-attapulgite/bismuth film electrode.

• A smartphone-operated sensor for analysis of multiple heavy metal ions.

• An Artificial neural network model for smart analysis of Cd2+, Pb2+, and Hg2+.

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All data generated or analysed during this study are included in this published article and its supplementary information files.

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Funding

This work is supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China (31860191, 51962007), Major Science and Technology Research and Development Project of Jiangxi Province (20203ABC28W016), Scientific Research Key Project of Jiangxi Provincial Department of Education (GJJ160351), and Key Research and Development Projects of Jiangxi Province (201921YBKT15).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Forestry, Jiangxi Agricultural University, East China Woody Fragrance and Flavor Engineering Research Center of National Forestry and Grassland Administration, Nanchang, 330045, People’s Republic of China

    Peng Huang, ** Wen & Zongde Wang

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  1. Peng Huang
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  2. Yao **ong
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  3. Yu Ge
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  4. Yang** Wen
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  5. **aoyan Zeng
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  6. Ji Zhang
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  7. Peng Wang
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  8. Zongde Wang
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  9. Shangxing Chen
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Contributions

Peng Huang: conceptualization, methodology, investigation, formal analysis, data curation, visualization, writing—original draft. Yao ** Wen: conceptualization, methodology, supervision, validation, resources. **aoyan Zeng and Ji Zhang: conceptualization, methodology, supervision. Peng Wang and Zongde Wang: conceptualization, methodology, investigation, supervision. Shangxing Chen: conceptualization, methodology, supervision, validation, resources, funding acquisition.

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Correspondence to Yang** Wen or Shangxing Chen.

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Huang, P., **ong, Y., Ge, Y. et al. Magnetic Fe3O4 nanoparticles decorated phosphorus-doped biochar-attapulgite/bismuth film electrode for smartphone-operated wireless portable sensing of ultra-trace multiple heavy metal ions. Microchim Acta 190, 94 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00604-023-05672-8

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