Electroless Deposition: A Nonelectroreduction Anodic Stripping Analysis Strategy for Heavy Metal Ions Using Nitrogen-Doped Graphdiynes/Carbon Nanotubes (2025)

Abstract

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In the past decades, the anodic stripping voltammetry (ASV) method has been the most commonly utilized electrochemical proposal for detecting trace amounts of heavy metal ions (HMIs). It involves two steps: HMI electroreduction and zerovalent metal reoxidation. However, it has been overlooked that the testing process could be simplified, made more efficient, and energy-saving by avoiding the electroreduction step. In this study, it is revealed that graphdiynes (GDY) as a remarkable material can induce the accumulation and self-reduction of Hg²⁺ and Cu²⁺ through a simple electroless deposition process, leading to the formation of zerovalent metals (Hg⁰ and Cu⁰). Inspired by this property, a nonelectroreduction ASV (NSV) sensing strategy for HMI detection was then proposed innovatively. By synthesizing a nitrogen-doped GDY/carbon nanotubes (N-GDY/CNTs) nanohybrid as the electrode material, the introduction of CNTs aims to enhance the conductivity and prevent GDY aggregation, while N-doping further improves the sensing performance. The results showed that the N-GDY/CNTs-based NSV sensing strategy not only eliminates the related electroreduction process referring to the common ASV strategy but also enables sensitive detection of Cu²⁺ and Hg²⁺ with extremely low detection limits (0.67 nM for Cu²⁺ and 0.33 nM for Hg²⁺). This indicates its great potential for wide applications in HMI testing.

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