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Heavy Metal Index

FeMg-BDC MOF/Reduced Graphene Oxide Electrochemical Sensor for Lead(II) Detection in Water

Doan et al.

Overview

Doan et al. (2025) develop an electrochemical sensor for lead(II) (Pb2+) detection based on a composite of a bimetallic metal-organic framework (FeMg-BDC MOF) and reduced graphene oxide (rGO) deposited on a glassy carbon electrode. The MOF/rGO composite provides enhanced surface area and electrochemical activity for sensitive Pb2+ stripping analysis.

Key numbers

Limit of detection (LOD): 9 ng/L (9 ppt, or 0.009 µg/L) for Pb2+ in water. This is well below the US EPA action level for lead in drinking water (15 µg/L) and the EU parametric value (5 µg/L since 2021, with a transition to 5 µg/L), and also below the WHO guideline of 10 µg/L. A LOD of 9 ng/L is analytically competitive with ICP-MS for environmental water.

Validated in tap water and river water. No food matrix validation.

Methods (brief)

Differential pulse anodic stripping voltammetry (DPASV) at MOF/rGO modified GCE. Preconcentration step accumulates Pb onto the electrode surface before stripping. Sub-10 ng/L LOD demonstrates the sensitivity advantage of stripping voltammetry for Pb in water matrices.

Implications

Testing: The 9 ng/L LOD is exceptional for an electrochemical method and competitive with ICP-MS. This type of sensor platform could support field deployment for drinking water monitoring. Not applicable to food matrices directly without further method development and validation.

Update history

No substantive edit history is available in this build. The full commit record is available in git.