Detection of chemical warfare agent Nitrogen Mustard-1 based on conducting polymer phthalocyanine nanorod modified electrode

A simple method is reported for the detection of chemical warfare agent Nitrogen Mustard-1 (NM-1) by using a modified electrode which was prepared by electrochemically immobilizing copper phthalocyanine (CuPc) into polypyrrole (pPy) in presence of a cationic surfactant cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) during the polymerization of pyrrole in an aqueous solution. The surface of the modified and bare electrodes are characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS) techniques in order to know the surface morphology and elemental composition of the modified electrodes, respectively. SEM images indicated the presence of nanorods on pPy/CuPc/CTAB sample and EDS study confirmed the nanorods as CuPc. Moreover, EDS study confirmed that the nanorods are only on the pPy matrix and not inside the pPy. FTIR results confirmed the presence of CuPc in pPy film. AC impedance spectroscopy analysis of the modified electrode with NM-1 exhibited more electron transfer resistance. The prepared modified electrode showed good electrochemical activity with NM-1 when compared to the unmodified gold electrode.