Electrochemical behavior of ReSe2 nanosheets for efficient determination of sodium azide for assessing environmental aspects

Abstract

Sodium azide is a poisonous, reactive chemical that can cause headaches, cytochrome oxidase inhibition, and vasodilation at relatively low concentrations. Therefore, it is very crucial to detect sodium azide. This work deals with synthesizing rhenium diselenide nanosheets (ReSe<inf>2</inf> NSs) via the hydrothermal method, which could serve as a substrate for sodium azide electrocatalytic determination. The as-synthesized ReSe<inf>2</inf> NSs were characterized by an X-ray Diffractometer (XRD), Raman, transmission electron microscope (TEM), and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) to obtain structural, optical, and morphological properties. Further, for the analysis of the electrocatalytic activity, these ReSe<inf>2</inf> NSs were electrophoretically deposited over the glass substrate of indium-tin-oxide (ITO). Furthermore, cyclic voltammetry (CV) was used to evaluate the electro-oxidation of sodium azide. Under optimized experimental conditions, the constructed biosensor shows excellent performance, such as a wider linear range of 3–20 μM, a low limit of detection (LOD) of 6.73 × 10−5 μM, and high electrochemical sensitivity of 16.76 μA μM−1 cm−2 towards sodium azide. The sensing capability was also successfully demonstrated in tap water samples spiked with sodium azide, representing environmental water conditions. Thus, the herein presented ReSe<inf>2</inf> NSs can be projected as an applicable nano-system for quick and inexpensive simultaneous detection of sodium azide in aqueous solutions. © 2025