A study of Electrocatalytic Activity of Ytterbium Tungstate Nanoparticles for the Determination of Nitrotriazolone

In this work, chemical precipitation was used to form ytterbium tungstate nanoparticles (Yb2(WO4)3). This was achieved through the direct addition of a solution of ytterbium ions in water to that of tungstate. The structural and chemical properties of the prepared nanomaterial were evaluated by means of transmission electron microscopy (TEM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (XRD). The modified electrochemical electrode was prepared using synthesized ytterbium tungstate nanoparticles and electrochemical behavior of this electrode was investigated by electrochemical methods like CV, CA and DPV. Also, the effects concentration, pH and the potential scan rate were on the electrochemical process were investigated. It was found that the electrode modified with ytterbium tungstate nanoparticles enjoys excellent electrocatalytic activity for nitrotriazolone (NTO). The response of the electrode to NTO was linear in the concentration range of 10-3 M to 10-5 M, and the limit of detection in DPV analyses reached 5×10-6 M. Good performance for determination of NTO in water samples was obtained by DPV method.