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Almond Shell as a Sustainable Sensor Material for Real-Time Heavy Metals Monitoring
Katarina Nikolić1, Milan Kragović1, Marija Stojmenović1, Miodrag Ristović1, Radmila Lišanin1, Janez Kovač2, Jelena Gulicovski1
e-mail: katarina.nikolic@vin.bg.ac.rs
1 “VINČA” Institute of Nuclear Sciences -National Institute of the Republic of Serbia, University of Belgrade, Mike Petrovića Alasa 12-14, 11351 Belgrade, Serbia
2Institute “Jožef Stefan”, Jamova cesta 39, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia
Clean water is a fundamental human need increasingly threatened by rapid population growth and industrial expansion. Among the most hazardous contaminants are heavy metal ions, which are non-biodegradable, highly toxic, and prone to bioaccumulation within food chains1. These challenges create an urgent need for the development of sensors capable of real-time environmental monitoring2. In this study, almond shells, collected near Belgrade, were enriched with Bi1.55Sm0.45O3 nanoparticles and thermally converted through carbonization into a carbon-nanoparticle composite. This material was employed as a sensing platform for heavy metal detection. The materials were characterized chemically and morphologically using Scanning Electron Microscopy – Energy Dispersive X-ray Spectroscopy (SEM-EDS) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). SEM images revealed a scaly carbon structure with uniformly embedded nanoparticles, while XPS confirmed the successful formation of carbon and incorporation of the surface modifier. The electrochemical performance of the sensor was evaluated in a conventional three-electrode system, with the synthesized material serving as the working electrode and unmodified carbon as the control. Cyclic voltammetry (CV) and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) demonstrated enhanced electrocatalytic activity compared with unmodified carbon. The analytical performance was assessed using anodic stripping voltammetry (ASV). The novel sensor reported the limit of detection (LOD) 0.15 µgL-1 (Cd) and 0.58 µgL-1 in a linear range from 0.22 µgL-1 to 0.11 mgL-1 and from 0.41 µgL-1 to 0.21 mgL-1 for Cd and Pb, respectively. Supported by this data, the focus of future research will be on real sample applications.
Keywords: almond shells, sensors, carbon, heavy metals, water
References:
1 Raju, C. V.; Cho, C. H.; Rani, G. M.; Manju, V.; Umapathi, R.; Huh, Y. S.; Park, J.-P. Emerging Insights into the Use of Carbon-Based Nanomaterials for the Electrochemical Detection of Heavy Metal Ions. Coord. Chem. Rev. 2023, 476, 214920. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ccr.2022.214920
2 Dai, X.; Wu, S.; Li, S. Progress on Electrochemical Sensors for the Determination of Heavy Metal Ions from Contaminated Water. J. Chin. Adv. Mater. Soc. 2018, 6 (2), 91–111. https://doi.org/10.1080/22243682.2018.1425904