Light-assisted synthesis of Pt-Zn porphyrin nanocomposites and their use for electrochemical detection of organohalides

Pt-Zn porphyrin nanocomposites have been synthesized using zinc porphyrin and dihydrogen hexachloroplatinate in the presence of light and ascorbic acid. TEM and AFM imaging revealed that Pt nanoparticles with an average diameter of ∼3.5 nm were embedded within the Zn porpliyrin matrix. The glassy carbon electrode was modified with Nafion-stabilized Pt-Zn porphyrin nanocomposites and used for dehalogenation of carbon tetrachloride, chloroform, pentachlorophenol, chlorobenzene, and hexachlorobenzene as five test models. The Pt-Zn porphyrin nanocomposite-modified electrode exhibited catalytic activity for the reduction of organohalides at -1.0 V versus Ag/AgCl. Raman signatures confirmed the dehalogenation of chlorobenzene by the nanocomposite-modified electrode. The above two aliphatic and three aromatic organohalides had detection limits of 0.5 μM with linearity up to 8 μM. The modified electrode was good for at least 80 repeated measurements of 4 μM chlorobenzene with a storage stability of 1 month at room temperature. The deactivation of the electrode activity was associated with the loss of platinum nanoparticles from the nanocomposite structure.