An amperometric sensor based on gamma-irradiated PANI-ZnO-NiO nanocomposite thin films for Escherichia coli detection in water
Abstract
Purpose
Regular monitoring of bacteria, especially Escherichia coli, in wastewater is crucial to ensure the maintenance of public health. Amperometric detection proves to be a fast, sensitive and economically viable solution for E. coli enumeration. This paper reported a prototype amperometric sensor based on PANI-ZnO-NiO nanocomposite thin films prepared by sol–gel method and irradiated with gamma ray. The purpose of this study is to investigate the sensor performance of PANI-ZnO-NiO nanocomposite thin films to detect E. coli in water.
Design/methodology/approach
The films were varied with different compositions of ZnO and NiO by using the formula PANI-(ZnO)1-x-(NiO)x, with x = 0.2, 0.4, 0.6 and 0.8. PANI-ZnO-NiO nanocomposite thin films were characterized by using X-ray diffraction (XRD) and atomic force microscopy (AFM) to study the crystallinity and surface morphology of the films. The sensor performance was conducted using the current–voltage (I-V) measurement by testing the films in clean water and E. coli solution.
Findings
XRD diffractograms show the peaks of ZnO (1 0 0) and NiO (1 0 2). AFM analysis shows the surface roughness, and the grain size of PANI-ZnO-NiO thin films decreases when the concentration ratios of NiO increased. I-V curves show the difference in current flow, where the current in E. coli solution is higher than the clean water.
Originality/value
PANI-(ZnO)1-x-(NiO)x nanocomposite thin film with the highest concentration of ZnO performed the highest sensitivity among the other concentrations, which can be used to indicate the presence of E. coli bacteria in water.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
This project was supported by Dana Impact Perdana (DIP-2016-021), Fundamental Research Grant Scheme (FRGS/1/2019/STG07/UKM/02/11) and Photonic Technology Laboratory from Department of Electrical, Electronic and System Engineering, University Kebangsaan Malaysia, Bangi, Selangor, Malaysia and Microbiology Laboratory, Faculty of Science and Technology, School of Bioscience and Biotechnology, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Bangi, Selangor, Malaysia.
Citation
Abdullah, H., Naim, N.M., Shum, K.S., Abdul Hamid, A., Othman, M.H.D., Selvanathan, V., Yap, W.F. and Mustaza, S.M. (2023), "An amperometric sensor based on gamma-irradiated PANI-ZnO-NiO nanocomposite thin films for Escherichia coli detection in water", Pigment & Resin Technology, Vol. ahead-of-print No. ahead-of-print. https://doi.org/10.1108/PRT-04-2022-0046
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2023, Emerald Publishing Limited