A Two-Dimensional NiMoO4 Nanowire Electrode for the Sensitive Determination of Hydroquinone in Four Types of Actual Water Samples

Hydroquinone (HQ) poses immeasurable risk to human health and the natural environment on the grounds of high toxicity of organic phenolic compounds. Herein, an innovative electrochemical sensor based on two-dimensional nickel molybdate nanowires (NiMoO 4 NWs) is constructed for the ultra-sensitive determination of HQ, which can provide useful reference for the human health and environment protection. Two-dimensional NiMoO 4 NWs are prepared successfully through a facile hydrothermal reaction and annealing process. The obtained two-dimensional NiMoO 4 NWs are characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), high-resolution TEM (HRTEM), energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS) mapping and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The accurate contents of Ni and Mo have been characterized by inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectroscopy (ICP-AES), confirming that the lower content of the nickel in NiMoO 4 NWs possesses the higher catalytic activity of HQ. Under the optimized conditions, the constructed HQ sensor exhibits satisfactory electrocatalytic activity with a low detection limit of 0.0355 μmol/L ( S/N  = 3), a wide linear range of 0.05–4600 μmol/L and sensitivity of 170.064 μA/(mmol cm 2 ). The sensor has been successfully applied to the detection of HQ in rainwater, tap water, domestic sewage and drinking water samples with satisfactory recovery. At the same time, this sensor has excellent reproducibility, selectivity, and stability. The constructed sensor has potential practical application value and broad application prospect in human health and environmental monitoring.