Synthesis of Silver Nanoparticles Using Chitosan as Stabilizer Agent: Application towards Electrocatalytical Reduction of p‐Nitrophenol

Abstract In this paper, a simple chemical method is reported for the synthesis of silver nanoparticles using β‐1,4 poly D‐glucosamine as stabilizer agent and their application towards electrocatalytical determination of p‐nitrophenol (p‐NP). The formation of β‐1,4 poly D‐glucosamine capped silver nanoparticles was confirmed using UV‐Vis spectroscopy, Scanning Electronic Microscopy (SEM), and Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy. The electrocatalytic activity of the β‐1,4 poly D‐glucosamine capped silver nanoparticles modified graphite carbon electrode ( β 1,4 p‐DGA‐AgNPs/GrCE ) towards p‐NP was studied using cyclic voltammetry (CV), AC electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS), and amperometric (i–t) studies. Typically, the obtained results were compared with those for unmodified graphite carbon. The results clearly reveal that the end prepared sensor has high electrocatalytic activity for p‐NP reduction. From the DPV results, ( β 1,4 p‐DGA‐AgNPs/GrCE ) was concluded as viable sensor for the electrochemical determination of p‐NP in a linear range from 1.0×10 −6 to 1.0×10 −4 mol L −1 . The minimum calculated concentration that can be detected by the proposed electrode is 6.0×10 −7 mol L −1 in terms of the detection limit ((3×σ)/P).