Herein, we propose a facile electrochemical sensing platform for
urea detection using pencil
graphite electrode modified nanocomposites of CuO/ZnO and Fe2O3/ZnO. The detection of
urea is essential to monitor for identifying its pollution in the water, at the soil surface and in diagnosing
urea cycle disorder related diseases. Therefore, an effective, accurate, cost-effective method of diagnosis is urgently needed. Nanostructured
metal oxides have the potential ability to detect molecules even at trace level and to explore this, the present work is formulated with Cu and Fe based ZnO nanocomposites for enhancing the sensing performance towards electrochemical sensing of
urea. The sensing responses were confirmed from the increase in oxidation current with respect to the concentration of
urea. The results show that Fe2O3/ZnO coated
graphite electrode has a higher response against
urea compared to ZnO and CuO/ZnO. The cyclic voltammetry studies also validate
urea sensing of Fe-ZnO in the linear range of 0.8 μg/mL to 4 μg/mL, with the detection limit of 2.5 μg/mL. This suggests that the cost-effective pencil
graphite electrode modified Fe2O3/ZnO can be utilized as a promising analytical tool for
urea sensing.