Abstract
CeO2 nanoparticles were synthesized hydrothermally and utilized as redox mediator for the fabrication of efficient ethanol chemi-sensor. The developed chemi-sensor showed an excellent performance for electrocatalytic oxidization of ethanol by exhibiting higher sensitivity (0.92 mu A-cm(-2).mM(-1)) and lower limit of detection (0.124 +/- 0.010 mM) with the linear dynamic range of 0.17 mM-0.17 M. CeO2 nanoparticles have been characterized by field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM). Energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS), X-ray powder diffraction (XRD), Raman spectrum, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), and UV-visible absorption spectrum which revealed that the synthesized CeO2 is an aggregated form of optically active spherical nanoparticles with the range of 15-36 nm (average size of similar to 25 +/- 10 nm) and possessing well crystalline cubic phase. Additionally, CeO2 performed well as a photo-catalyst by degrading amido black and acridine orange. (C) 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.