Simultaneous Electrochemical Determination of Hydroquinone and Catechol by Lignocellulose Biopolymers Derived Porous Carbon

Hemicellulose and lignin, which are main components of wood biomass with different structures, were carbonized and activated by KOH to prepare wood biomass-derived porous carbons (WBM-PCs). The resulting WBM-PCs were characterized by SEM, XRD, Raman, FI-IR, and N2-adsorption/desorption isotherms, and successfully utilized as an effective modifier on the glassy carbon electrode surface (GCE) for simultaneous electrochemical determination of dihydroxybenzene isomers, i. e. hydroquinone (HQ) and catechol (CC), which are highly toxic and non-degradable. The resulting WBM-PCs-modified GCEs allowed simultaneous determination of HQ and CC with cyclic voltammetry and constant-potential amperometry. The linear range for determination of HQ by hemicellulose-derived carbon (HC) was from 1.0 to 3000 mu mol/L with the limit of detection (LOD) of 1.05 mu mol/L, and that for CC was from 1.0 to 5000 mu mol/L with LOD of 0.4 mu mol/L. For lignin-derived carbon (LC), the linear range for HQ was from 0.5 to 1000 mu mol/L with LOD of 0.095 mu mol/L, and that for CC was from 0.5 to 3000 mu mol/L with LOD of 0.15 mu mol/L. These results imply that wood biomass (hemicellulose and lignin), which is sustainable, renewable and environment-friendly material, have potential as an effective precursor of electrochemically active porous carbon materials applicable to various electrochemical sensors. An electrochemical sensor for simultaneous detection of hydroquinone (HQ) and catechol (CC) is designed based on lignocellulose biopolymers derived carbons. Lignin and hemicellulose as precursors for porous carbons are highly desirable due to their abundance, cost effectiveness and renewability. The prepared sensors exhibit good performance for the separate detection of HQ and CC, including wide linear ranges, low detection limits, good reproducibility and applicability.+image