Mesoporous Magnesium Oxide Nanosheet Electrocatalysts for the Detection of Lead(II)

Ultrathin two-dimensional (2D) magnesium oxide nanosheets (MgO-NSs) with mesoporous structure (Brunauer–Emmett–Teller surface area of 158 m2·g–1 and a pore size of 2–3 nm) are proposed as excellent electrocatalysts for the detection of lead(II). A sugar-blowing-induced confined synthesis method was developed to synthesize MgO-NSs by one-step calcination of a Mg(NO3)2–glucose mixture. Impressively, MgOs-NSs display excellent sensing performances for the electrochemical detection of lead(II) with a detection limit of 0.16 nM and a linear range of 20–150 nM (R2 = 0.996). This work sheds light on the preparation of ultrathin 2D mesoporous nanosheets for sensing applications.