Influence of cations in MFe2O4 (M: Fe, Zn, Ni, Sn) ferrite nanoparticles on the electrocatalytic activity for application in hydrogen peroxide sensor

Abstract

Hydrothermally prepared MFe2O4 (M: Fe, Zn, Ni and Sn) nanoparticles have been characterized by XRD, SEM and BET. The ferrite nanoparticles have been tested for their electrocatalytic activity and application towards the reduction and sensing of hydrogen peroxide using cyclic voltammetry and chronoamperometry techniques. ZnFe2O4 and SnFe2O4 reveal superior H2O2 sensing performance than Fe3O4 and NiFe2O4, which can be attributed to the lower redox potential of Sn2+/Sn4+ couple, lower charge-transfer resistance and higher specific surface area. ZnFe2O4 and SnFe2O4 have a sensitivity of 4.411 and 3.915 ?AmM-1 ?g-1, respectively, which is greater than that of Fe3O4 (0.434 ?AmM-1 ?g-1) and NiFe2O4 (0.644 ?AmM-1 ?g-1). SnFe2O4 has the lowest limit of detection (2.6 (M) with good selectivity towards H2O2 in the presence of other interference agents. 2019 IOP Publishing Ltd.