A self-supported CuO/Cu nanowire electrode (CuO/CuNWE), which was prepared by annealing Cu nanowires to form a porous Cu nanowire electrode (CuNWE) and then anodizing the as-prepared CuNWE in alkaline medium to generate Cu(OH)2 nanowires followed by calcination, was employed for chemical oxygen demand (COD) determination using cyclic voltammetry (CV). The structure and electrochemical behavior of the CuO/CuNWE were investigated by scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, and CV. The results indicated that the as-synthesized CuO/CuNWE, in which CuO nanowires with a length of several micrometers and a diameter of 100 to 300 nm could be found, was stable in alkaline medium and more electrocatalytically active for oxidizing a wide range of organic compounds in comparison with the CuNWE. Under optimized alkaline concentration and scan rate, the CuO/CuNWE exhibited a good performance for COD measurement, with a linear range of 5 to 1153 mg L-1, a sensitivity of 2.46× 10-2 mA /(mg L-1), and a detection limit of about 2.3 mg L-1. In addition, an excellent correlation was observed in COD values obtained by our method and the classic dichromate method (r = 0.9995, p < 0.01, n = 11). Finally, our method was successfully used to measure the COD values in real water samples, showing great potential for practical application in water pollution control.
Keywords: Chemical oxygen demand; Copper oxide nanowires; Cyclic voltammogram; Electrochemical sensor.