Electrochemical surface functionalization engineering of carbon cloth for ultrasensitive electrochemical detection of nitrite

In this work, the commercial carbon cloth modified with a large number of oxygen-containing functional groups (C-OH, COOH and CO) was fabricated by simple constant current electrochemical treatment (EFCC electrode) for the ultrasensitive electrochemical detection of nitrite. Due to the combination of enhanced superhydrophilicity, significantly improved conductivity and dramatically increased active specific surface area and sites, the EFCC electrode exhibited excellent nitrite detection performance, including wide detection ranges of 0.1–3500 μM divided into three ranges, low detection limit of 0.016 μM (S/N = 3) and ultra-high sensitivities of 12310, 3515, 1877 μA mM−1 cm−2. This work provided an important reference for the application of functionalized modification strategies to construct high-performance electrochemical sensors.