Synthesis and characterization of copper borates compounds andanalytical applications

In this study, three Cu3B2O6, Cu2CoB2O6, CuCo2B2O6 copper borate compounds in cotoite crystal structure were synthesized by solid state method. The synthesized compounds were characterized by powder XRD, FT-IR, ICP-OES, SEM EDS and BET methods. These compounds were used as electrocatalysts in water oxidation studies in the first part of the thesis and in the sensor studies for glucose determination in the second part of the thesis. In water oxidation studies, CNT was added to copper borate compounds and their electrocatalytic activities were investigated in 1 M KOH solution on GCE. The overpotentials to reach 1 mA.cm-2 and 10 mA.cm-2 current densities were calculated. It was observed that the CuCo2B2O6_CNT/GCE electrocatalyst, which showed the best activity, exhibited an overpotential of 395 mV at a current density of 10 mA.cm-2 with stability. In the second part of the study, the activities of pure copper borate compounds towards glucose in 0.1 M KOH solution on GCE were investigated. Amperometric studies were performed with Cu3B2O6/GCE showing the best activity. The limit of detection (LOD), the limit of quantification (LOQ) and the linear working range of the amperometric sensor for glucose determination were calculated as 0.011 mM, 0.035 mM and 0.05 – 12 mM, respectively. The repeatability of the sensor were tested. The effects of interference in biological environments on the response of the sensor were investigated. Finally, the recovery values in the real sample were calculated.