Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

A graphene-based electrochemical sensor for sensitive and selective determination of hydroquinone

  • Original Paper
  • Published:
Microchimica Acta Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Graphene was prepared by electrochemical reduction of exfoliated graphite oxide at cathodic potentials, and used to fabricate a graphene-modified glassy carbon electrode (GCE) which was applied in a sensor for highly sensitive and selective voltammetric determination of hydroquinone (HQ). Compared to a bare (conventional) GCE, the redox peak current for HQ in pH 5.7 acetate buffer solution is significantly increased, indicating that graphene possesses electrocatalytic activity towards HQ. In addition, the peak-to-peak separation is significantly improved. The modified electrode enables sensing of HQ without interference by catechol or resorcinol. Under optimal conditions, the sensor exhibits excellent performance for detecting HQ with a detection limit of 0.8 μM, a reproducibility of 2.5% (expressed as the RSD), and a recoveries from 98.4 to 101.2%.

Graphene based glassy carbon electrode was used to determine hydroquinone in the simultaneous presence of it isomers of catechol (CC) and resorcinol (RC). The desired sensitivity and selectivity is attributed to the good conductivity and excellent electrocatalytic ability of graphene.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Zhou K, Zhu Y, Yang X, Li C (2010) Electrocatalytic oxidation of glucose by the glucose oxidase immobilized in graphene-Au-nafion biocomposite. Electroanalysis 22:259–264

    Article  Google Scholar 

  2. Wang Z, Li S, Lv Q (2007) Simultaneous determination of dihydroxybenzene isomers at single-wall carbon nanotube electrode. Sens Actuators B 127:420–425

    Article  Google Scholar 

  3. Zhang D, Peng Y, Qi H, Gao Q, Zhang C (2009) Application of multielectrode array modified with carbon nanotubes to simultaneous amperometric determination of dihydroxybenzene isomers. Sens Actuators B 136:113–121

    Article  Google Scholar 

  4. Chen X, Parker SG, Zou G, Su W, Zhang Q (2010) β-cyclodextrin-functionalized silver nanoparticles for the naked eye detection of aromatic isomers. ACS Nano 4:6387–6394

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  5. Asan A, Isildak I (2003) Determination of major phenolic compounds in water by reversed-phase liquid chromatography after pre-column derivatization with benzoyl chloride. J Chromatogr A 988:145–149

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  6. Dong S, Chi L, Yang Z, He P, Wang Q, Fang Y (2009) Simultaneous determination of dihydroxybenzene and phenylenediamine positional isomers using capillary zone electrophoresis coupled with amperometric detection. J Sep Sci 32:3232–3238

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  7. Vieira IC, Fatibello-Filho O (2000) Biosensor based on paraffin/graphite modified with sweet potato tissue for the determination of hydroquinone in cosmetic cream in organic phase. Talanta 52:681–689

    Article  Google Scholar 

  8. Han L, Zhang X (2009) Simultaneous voltammetry determination of dihydroxybenzene isomers by nanogold modified electrode. Electroanalysis 21:124–129

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  9. Chen L, Tang Y, Wang K, Liu C, Luo S (2011) Direct electrodeposition of reduced graphene oxide on glassy carbon electrode and its electrochemical application. Electrochem Commun 13:133–137

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  10. Yin H, Ma Q, Zhou Y, Ai S, Zhu L (2010) Electrochemical behavior and voltammetric determination of 4-aminophenol based on graphene–chitosan composite film modified glassy carbon electrode. Electrochim Acta 55:7102–7108

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  11. Kang X, Wang J, Wu H, Liu J, Aksayc IA, Lin Y (2010) A graphene-based electrochemical sensor for sensitive detection of paracetamol. Talanta 81:754–759

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  12. Zhao DM, Zhang XH, Feng LJ, Jia L, Wang SF (2009) Simultaneous determination of hydroquinone and catechol at PASA/MWNTs composite film modified glassy carbon electrode. Colloids Surf B Biointerfaces 74:317–321

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  13. Novoselov KS, Geim AK, Morozov SV, Jiang D, Zhang Y, Dubonos SV, Grigorieva IV, Firsov AA (2004) Electric field effect in atomically thin carbon films. Science 306:666–669

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  14. Wang X, Zhi L, Tsao N (2008) Transparent carbon films as electrodes in organic solar cells. Angew Chem Int Ed 47:2908–2909

    Article  Google Scholar 

  15. Yoo E, Kim J, Hosono E, Zhou H, Kudo T, Honma I (2008) Large reversible Li storage of graphene nanosheet families for use in rechargeable Lithium ion batteries. Nano Lett 8:2277–2282

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  16. Bong S, Kim YR, Kim I, Woo S, Uhm S, Lee J, Kim H (2010) Graphene supported electrocatalysts for methanol oxidation. Electrochem Commun 12:129–131

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  17. Li J, Guo S, Zhai Y, Wang E (2009) High-sensitivity determination of lead and cadmium based on the Nafion-graphene composite film. Anal Chim Acta 649:196–201

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  18. Hong W, Bai H, Xu Y, Yao Z, Gu Z, Shi G (2010) Preparation of gold nanoparticle/graphene composites with controlled weight contents and their application in biosensors. J Phys Chem C 114:1822–1826

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  19. Wang Y, Li Y, Tang L, Lu J, Li J (2009) Application of graphene-modified electrode for selective detection of dopamine. Electrochem Commun 11:889–892

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  20. Shao Y, Wang J, Wu H, Liu J, Aksay IA, Lin Y (2010) Graphene based electrochemical sensors and biosensors:A review. Electroanalysis 22:1027–1036

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  21. Chen D, Tang L, Li J (2010) Graphene-based materials in electrochemistry. Chem Soc Rev 39:3157–3180

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  22. Arvinte A, Mahosenaho M, Pinteala M, Sesay AM, Virtanen V (2011) Electrochemical oxidation of p-nitrophenol using graphene-modified electrodes, and a comparison to the performance of MWNT-based electrodes. Microchim Acta DOI. doi:10.1007/s00604-011-0628-x

  23. Wei L, Borowiec J, Zhu L, Zhang J (2011) Electrochemical sensor for monitoring the photodegradation of catechol based on DNA-modified graphene oxide. Microchim Acta 173:439–443

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  24. Wang C, Zhang L, Guo Z, Xu J, Wang H, Zhai K, Zhuo X (2010) A novel hydrazine electrochemical sensor based on the high specific surface area graphene. Microchim Acta 169:1–6

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  25. Stankovich S, Dikin DA, Piner RD, Kohlhaas KA, Kleinhammes A, Jia YY, Wu Y, Nguyen ST, Ruoff RS (2007) Synthesis of graphene-based nanosheets via chemical reduction of exfoliated graphite oxide. Carbon 45:1558–1565

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  26. Guo HL, Wang XF, Qian QY, Wang FB, Xia XH (2009) A green approach to the synthesis of graphene nanosheets. ACS Nano 3:2653–2659

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  27. Wang Z, Zhou X, Zhang J, Boey F, Zhang H (2009) Direct electrochemical reduction of single-layer grapheme oxide and subsequent functionalization with glucose oxidase. J Phys Chem C 113:14071–14075

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  28. Kovtyukhova NI, Ollivier PJ, Martin BR, Mallouk TE, Chizhik SA, Buzaneva EV, Gorchinskiy AD (1999) Layer-by-layer assembly of ultrathin composite films from micron-sized graphite oxide sheets and polycations. Chem Mater 11:771–778

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  29. Hummers WS, Offeman RE (1958) Preparation of graphite oxide. J Am Chem Soc 80:1339–1339

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  30. Wu H, Wang J, Kang X, Wang C, Wang D, Liu J, Aksay IA, Lin Y (2009) Glucose biosensor based on immobilization of glucose oxidase in platinum nanoparticles/graphene/chitosan nanocomposite film. Talanta 80:403–406

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  31. Bai J, Guo L, Ndamanisha JC, Qi B (2009) Electrochemical properties and simultaneous determination of dihydroxybenzene isomers at ordered mesoporous carbon-modified electrode. J Appl Electrochem 39:2497–2503

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  32. Wang L, Huang PF, Bai JY, Wang HJ, Zhang LY, Zhao YQ (2007) Covalent modification of a glassy carbon electrode with penicillamine for simultaneous determination of hydroquinone and catechol. Microchim Acta 158:151–157

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  33. Dong J, Qu X, Wang L, Zhao C, Xu J (2008) Electrochemistry of nitrogen-doped carbon nanotubes (CNx) with different nitrogen content and its application in simultaneous determination of dihydroxybenzene isomers. Electroanalysis 20:1981–1986

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgement

This work was supported by the Grants from the Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC, No. 201105002), Anyang Technology Research Program (No 208) and Doctoral Fund for Initial Research of Anyang Normal University (No 308746).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Anyang Normal University, Anyang, 455002, China

    Su-Juan Li, Yun Xing & Gui-Fang Wang

Authors
  1. Su-Juan Li
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Yun Xing
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Gui-Fang Wang
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Su-Juan Li.

Electronic supplementary material

Below is the link to the electronic supplementary material.

ESM 1

(DOC 357 kb)

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Li, SJ., Xing, Y. & Wang, GF. A graphene-based electrochemical sensor for sensitive and selective determination of hydroquinone. Microchim Acta 176, 163–168 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00604-011-0709-x

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00604-011-0709-x

Keywords

Search

Navigation