Metal–organic framework derived Co3S4 nanosheets grown on Ti mesh: an efficient electrocatalyst for electrochemical sensing of hydrazine.

Constructing low cost and efficient electrochemical sensors for highly sensitive detection of hydrazine has a great significance in the field of environmental monitoring and protection. Herein, metal–organic framework derived Co3S4 nanosheets grown on Ti mesh (Co3S4/TM) were successfully synthesized by employing a facile anion exchange reaction and hydrothermal vulcanization with Co-MOF as the precursor. The crystalline structure and morphology of as-synthesized samples were characterized by XRD, SEM, Raman, XPS and TEM analysis. It was found that Co3S4 nanosheets were stacked loosely and irregularly on each other to form a three-dimensional (3D) porous structure. The electrochemical sensing performance of Co3S4/TM toward hydrazine was investigated in 0.1 M NaOH solution. The results showed that Co3S4/TM presented a better electrocatalytic activity toward hydrazine oxidation than Co-MOF/TM and Co(OH)2/TM, owing to the high electrical conductivity of Co3S4 for enhancing electron transfer and the 3D porous structure for providing many more accessible active sites and shortening ion diffusion length as well as promoting mass transfer for hydrazine electrooxidation. As a result, Co3S4/TM exhibited a superior analytical performance with a wide linear range of 0.005–2.0 mM, a high sensitivity of 2956 μA mM−1 cm−2 and a low detection limit of 0.7 μM (S/N = 3), which was superior or comparable to that of the recently reported sensor. Because of the good selectivity and reproducibility, Co3S4/TM was applied to detection of hydrazine in tap water and it showed good recovery, indicating that it could be a promising candidate for analyzing hydrazine in practical application. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]