NiO thin film for mercury detection in water by square wave anodic stripping voltammetry

NiO thin film thermally grown on Ni was investigated for the first time as an electrochemical sensor of mercury ions in water. The film was obtained by thermal oxidation in air of a commercial Ni foil. The influence of oxidation temperature, and time have been investigated by XRD, SEM, and EDS analysis. Square wave anodic stripping voltammetry was used for detecting Hg2+ions in aqueous solution with different ion concentrations. In order to improve the response signal, all the operational parameters related to the sensing process such as pH, deposition time, potential, and square wave frequency, have been optimized. We obtained a detection limit of 4.4 ppb with a sensitivity of 1.1 μA ppb-1cm-2.