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Dopamine sensor based on a hybrid material composed of cuprous oxide hollow microspheres and carbon black

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Abstract

We report on a novel electrochemical dopamine (DA) sensor based on a glassy carbon electrode (GCE) modified with a hybrid material composed of Cu(I) oxide hollow microspheres and carbon black. The hybrid material was synthesized in a mixed solvent composed of water and the deep eutectic solvent choline chloride/urea, and by in-situ reduction of Cu(II) by ascorbic acid. The surface morphology and structure of the materials were characterized by scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy and X-ray diffraction. Cyclic voltammetry and chronoamperometry were used to evaluate the electrocatalytic properties of the modified GCE toward DA oxidation in phosphate buffer solution of pH 5.7. The sensor displays a higher electrocatalytic activity toward DA oxidation compared to other modified electrodes. At a working potential of 0.25 V (vs. SCE), the sensor exhibits a rapid response (<3 s) and a wide linear range from 9.9 × 10−8 to 7.08 × 10−4 mol L−1. The detection limit is as low as 3.96 × 10−8 mol L−1 (S/N = 3). In addition to its high sensitivity, the sensor displays good reproducibility, long-term stability and fair selectivity.

A novel electrochemical dopamine sensor based on Cu(I) oxide hollow microspheres and carbon black (Cu2O HMS/CB) composite has been developed. The coating of CB obviously reduces the size of Cu2O HMS. The sensor exhibits good analytical performance for dopamine detection.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (21463007, 21263002), Guangxi Natural Science Foundation of China (2013GXNSFAA019024, 2014GXNSFFA118003), the S&T Project of Guangxi Education Department of China (2013YB026), BAGUI Scholar Program (2014A001) and Project of Talents Highland of Guangxi Province.

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  1. Guangxi Key Laboratory of Low Carbon Energy Materials, College of Chemistry and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Guangxi Normal University, Guilin, 541004, China

    Li-Na Wu, Yi-Liang Tan, Li Wang, Sheng-Nan Sun, Zhi-Yu Qu, Jun-Ming Zhang & You-Jun Fan

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  1. Li-Na Wu
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Correspondence to You-Jun Fan.

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Wu, LN., Tan, YL., Wang, L. et al. Dopamine sensor based on a hybrid material composed of cuprous oxide hollow microspheres and carbon black. Microchim Acta 182, 1361–1369 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00604-015-1455-2

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