Determination of heavy metals in herbal food supplements using bismuth/multi-walled carbon nanotubes/Nafion modified graphite electrodes sourced from waste batteries

An electrochemical sensor based on graphite electrode extracted from waste zinc-carbon battery is developed. The graphite electrode was modified with bismuth nanoparticles (BiNP), multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNT) and Nafion via the drop coating method. The bare and modified graphite electrodes were used as the working electrode in anodic stripping voltammetry for the determination of trace amounts of cadmium (Cd2+) and lead (Pb2+). The modified electrode exhibited excellent electroanalytical performance for heavy metal detection in comparison with the bare graphite electrode. The linear concentration range from 5 parts per billion (ppb) to 1000 ppb (R2 = 0.996), as well as detection limits of 1.06 ppb for Cd2+ and 0.72 ppb for Pb2+ were obtained at optimized experimental conditions and parameters. The sensor was successfully utilized for the quantification of Cd2+ and Pb2+ in herbal food supplement samples with good agreement to the results obtained by atomic absorption spectroscopy. Thus, the BiNP/MWCNT/Nafion modified graphite electrode is a cost-effective and environment-friendly sensor for monitoring heavy metal contamination. © 2019, The Author(s)