This work presents new insights on the electrocatalytic reduction of 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene (TNT) on carbon nanotubes (CNTs)-modified electrodes (multi-walled carbon nanotubes and double-walled carbon nanotubes). Cyclic voltammetry showed at least 5-fold current increase in the electrochemical reduction of TNT on GCE modified with pristine (“as received”) CNTs. The improved performance was also verified after 60 s of accumulation and scanning using adsorptive stripping voltammetry, with slope values 20-fold higher. Acid functionalization removed residual metals from CNTs and reduced their surface area. Hence, the improved electrochemical response of TNT on pristine CNTs seems to be not only due to surface roughness (electroactive area) but mainly originating from residual metallic catalysts on CNTs. The modified electrode with pristine CNTs was applied for the determination of TNT residues on different surfaces contaminated with the explosive, showing its applicability for forensic investigations.

这项工作提出了在碳纳米管（CNTs）修饰的电极（多壁碳纳米管和双壁碳纳米管）上电催化还原2,4,6-三硝基甲苯（TNT）的新见解。循环伏安法显示，在用原始（“原样”）CNT修饰的GCE上，TNT的电化学还原反应电流至少增加了5倍。在60 s的累积和扫描后，使用吸附溶出伏安法也验证了改进的性能，其斜率值高20倍。酸官能化去除了CNT中的残留金属并减少了其表面积。因此，TNT在原始CNT上改善的电化学响应似乎不仅是由于表面粗糙度（电活性面积）引起的，而且主要源于CNT上残留的金属催化剂。