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Background: The detection of hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) and nitrite ion (NO2-) is of great important in various fields including clinic, food, pharmaceutical and environmental analyses. Compared with many methods that have been developed for the determination of them, the electrochemical detection method has attracted much attention. In recent years, with the development of nanotechnology, many kinds of micro/nano-scale materials have been used in the construction of electrochemical biosensors because of their unique and particular properties. Among these catalysts, copper oxide (CuO), as a well known p-type semiconductor, has gained increasing attention not only for its unique properties but also for its applications in many fields such as gas sensors, photocatalyst and electrochemistry sensors. Continuing our previous investigations on transition-metal oxide including cuprous oxide and α-Fe2O3 modified electrode, in the present paper we examine the electrochemical and electrocatalytical behavior of flower like copper oxide modified glass carbon electrodes (CuO/GCE)., Results: Flower like copper oxide (CuO) composed of many nanoflake was synthesized by a simple hydrothermal reaction and characterized using field-emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD). CuO modified glass carbon electrode (CuO/GCE) was fabricated and characterized electrochemically. A highly sensitive method for the rapid amperometric detection of hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) and nitrite (NO2-) was reported., Conclusions: Due to the large specific surface area and inner characteristic of the flower like CuO, the resulting electrode show excellent electrocatalytic reduction for H2O2 and oxidation of NO2-. Its sensitivity, low detection limit, fast response time and simplicity are satisfactory. Furthermore, this synthetic approach can also be applied for the synthesis of other inorganic oxides with improved performances and they can also be extended to construct other micro/nano-structured functional surfaces.

The spatio-temporal variations of soil gas in the seismic fault zone produced by the 12 May 2008 Wenchuan Ms 8.0 earthquake were investigated based on the field measurements of soil gas concentrations after the main shock. Concentrations of He, H2, CO2, CH4, O2, N2, Rn, and Hg in soil gas were measured in the field at eight short profiles across the seismic rupture zone in June and December 2008 and July 2009. Soil-gas concentrations of more than 800 sampling sites were obtained. The data showed that the magnitudes of the He and H2 anomalies of three surveys declined significantly with decreasing strength of the aftershocks with time. The maximum concentrations of He and H2 (40 and 279.4 ppm, respectively) were found in three replicates at the south part of the rupture zone close to the epicenter. The spatio-temporal variations of CO2, Rn, and Hg concentrations differed obviously between the north and south parts of the fault zone. The maximum He and H2 concentrations in Jun 2008 occurred near the parts of the rupture zone where vertical displacements were larger. The anomalies of He, H2, CO2, Rn, and Hg concentrations could be related to the variation in the regional stress field and the aftershock activity.