A facile one-pot preparation of Co3O4/g-C3N4 heterojunctions with excellent electrocatalytic activity for the detection of environmental phenolic hormones.

The Co 3 O 4 /g-C 3 N 4 heterojunctions were prepared by a facile one-pot thermal decomposition technique. Compared with g-C 3 N 4 , it was found that Co 3 O 4 /g-C 3 N 4 heterojunctions possessed a higher Brunner-Emmet-Teller (BET) surface area, which was beneficial to the diffusion of aim molecules on the electrode surfaces. And the optimal Co 3 O 4 /g-C 3 N 4 heterojunctions exhibited a narrower band gap and a higher donor density, resulting in an excellent electrocatalytic activity for environmental phenolic hormones. Moreover, the Co 3 O 4 /g-C 3 N 4 heterojunctions were used for the electrochemical sensing of environmental phenolic hormones such as bisphenol A, pentachlorophenol, p -nitrophenol and octylphenol. All detection ranges reached three orders of magnitude, showing a lower limit of detection of 10 −9 mol L −1 . So, sensitivity and accurate determination of environmental phenolic hormones in real water samples may use this Co 3 O 4 /g-C 3 N 4 heterojunctions modified electrode. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]