Abstract
Herein, we present a greener approach to achieve an ultrasensitive, selective, and viable sensor engineered by amino acids as a recognition layer for simultaneous electrochemical sensing of toxic heavy metals (HMs). Electrochemical techniques like electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS), cyclic voltammetry (CV), and square-wave anodic stripping voltammetry (SWASV) were applied to demonstrate sensing capabilities of the designed analytical tool. The comparative results of different amino acids demonstrate alanine’s superior performance with a well-resolved and enhanced current signal for target metal ions due to strong complexation of its functional moieties. The working conditions for alanine-modified GCE were optimized by investigating the effect of alanine concentration, different supporting electrolytes, pH values, accumulation potentials, and time. The limits of detection for Zn2+, Cd2+, Cu2+, and Hg2+ were found to be 8.92, 5.77, 3.01, and 5.89 pM, respectively. The alanine-modified electrode revealed absolute discrimination ability, stability, and ultrasensitivity toward metal ions even in the presence of multifold interfering species. Likewise, greener modifier-designed electrodes possessed remarkable electrocatalytic activity, cost affordability, reproducibility, and applicability for picomolar level detection of HM ions in real water sample matrixes. Theoretical calculations for the HM–amino acid interaction also support a significantly improved mediator role of the alanine modifier that is consistent with the experimental findings.