Microplastic contaminants detection in aquatic environment by hydrophobic cerium oxide nanoparticles

Microplastics (MPs) poses a significant threat to ecosystems and human health, demanding immediate attention. The reported research work offers an effective and low cost method towards the detection of toxic MPs. In this study, hydrophobic cerium oxide nanoparticles (CeO₂ NPs) are synthesized and applied as promising electrode material for the detection of two different types of MPs, i.e. polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP). Through electrochemical analyses, such as cyclic voltammetry (CV) and linear sweep voltammetry (LSV), hydrophobic CeO₂ NPs modified glassy carbon electrode (GCE) based sensor demonstrated remarkable sensitivity of ∼0.0343 AmLmg⁻¹cm⁻² and detection limit of ∼0.226 mgmL⁻¹, with promising correlation coefficient (R²) towards the detection of PE (∼27–32 μm). Furthermore, hydrophobic CeO₂ NPs modified GCE exhibited promising stability and reproducibility towards PE (∼27–32 μm), suggesting the promising potential of hydrophobic CeO₂ NPs as electrode materials for an electrochemical microplastics detection.