Carbon supported g-C3N4 for electrochemical sensing of hydrazine

Abstract This study reports a synthesis of carbon supported graphitic carbon nitride (g-C3N4-KBC) obtained by pyrolysis of melamine with Ketjenblack 600JD carbon (KBC) at 550°C for 4 h in a N2 atmosphere. g-C3N4-KBC oxidizes hydrazine at an onset potential 0.145 V vs. SCE close to the thermodynamic standard potential of hydrazine (0.23 V vs. SHE). In comparison to the controls, KBC and g-C3N4, g-C3N4-KBC oxidizes hydrazine at lower overpotential.Most research has tended to focus on transition metal-based catalysts and few are of carbon material such as graphene nanoflakes, graphene oxide, and carbon nanotubes. A comparison in terms of sensitivity, detection range and stability reveals g-C3N4-KBC electrode’s superiority over other carbon material-based catalysts. To the best of our knowledge, the g-C3N4-KBC catalyst is not reported for sensing hydrazine in the literature.