Picomolar level electrochemical detection of hydroquinone, catechol and resorcinol simultaneously using a MoS2 nano-flower decorated graphene.

Herein, a graphene-nano-molybdenum disulphide (pGr-MoS2), synthesized from pulverized graphite and using precursors of MoS2, was investigated for the electrochemical sensing of dihydroxy benzene isomers (DHBI): hydroquinone (HQ), catechol (CA), and resorcinol (RE). Interestingly, the material could sense the three isomers simultaneously, with well-defined peaks and an adequate potential difference between each peak. The detection limits (3σ method) of HQ, CA, and RE on the glassy carbon electrode (GCE) modified with pGr-MoS2 are 10-13, 10-12, and 10-8 M (i.e., 0.1 pM, 1 pM, and 10 nM), respectively, and are the lowest reported so far for the isomers. The pGr-MoS2/GCE exhibited selectivity towards DHBI, in the presence of other toxic contaminants and metal ions such as phenol, dinitrophenol, trinitrophenol, urea and glucose, Hg(II), Ca(II), Ni(II), Zn(II), Cu(II), Na(I) and K(I). A possible mechanism for this superior selectivity of pGr-MoS2 towards DHBI is discussed based on the structural properties of pGr-MoS2 with evidence. Further, the pGr-MoS2 sensor exhibited reproducibility (with six different electrodes), stability (≥90 days), and repeatability properties. The sensing performance was successfully demonstrated in real water samples such as ground-, tap-, and river- water spiked with HQ, CA, and RE.

Nanomolar level electrochemical detection of glycine on a miniaturized modified screen-printed carbon-based electrode: a comparison of performance with glassy carbon electrode system.

In this work, we demonstrate the electrochemical (EC) sensing of glycine (GLY) on a gold-copper nanocluster on nitrogen-doped graphene quantum dot-modified (indigenously fabricated) screen-printed electrode (AuCuNC@N-GQD/SPE). SPE was fabricated by step-by-step printing of reference, working, and counter electrodes to develop an all-printed SPE. A comparison strategy between SPE and the glassy carbon electrode (GCE) towards the EC sensing of GLY was carried out. The sensing performance was enhanced while replacing GCE with SPE. The limit of detection (LOD) for GLY obtained by EC sensing with AuCuNC@N-GQD/GCE was 10 nM and that with AuCuNC@N-GQD/SPE was 10 times lower, 1 nM, and is the lowest LOD value reported hitherto. Compared with AuCuNC@N-GQD/GCE, the current response of AuCuNC@N-GQD/SPE exhibited a ∼2.6-times enhancement with a sensitivity of 0.206 µA µM-1 cm-2. Thus, the successful shift from GCE to SPE not only miniaturizes the sensor device but also enhances the electrochemical detection performance.

A highly stable copper nano cluster on nitrogen-doped graphene quantum dots for the simultaneous electrochemical sensing of dopamine, serotonin, and nicotine: a possible addiction scrutinizing strategy.

A highly stable copper (Cu) nanocluster (NC), which exhibited stability for more than one year, was synthesized using nitrogen-doped graphene quantum dots (N-GQDs) as reducing and capping agents and smaller glutathione molecules as additional capping agents. The synthesized NC, CuNC@N-GQDs, successfully sensed dopamine (DA), serotonin (SER), and nicotine (NIC) simultaneously with well-defined peaks and good peak-to-peak separation, whereas none of the controls including CuNCs and N-GQDs exhibited the simultaneous sensing properties. In addition, they exhibited enhanced sensitivity with current responses ∼4, ∼4, and ∼2 times those of the corresponding control for DA, SER, and NIC. The limits of detection obtained were 0.001, 1.00, and 0.01 nM for DA, SER, and NIC, respectively. The higher sensitivity and the simultaneous sensing are indicative of the synergistic effect of CuNCs and N-GQDs in the CuNC@N-GQDs. The sensing performance was successfully extended to real blood and urine samples spiked with DA, SER, and NIC.