Simultaneous intercalated assembly of mesostructured hybrid carbon nanofiber/reduced graphene oxide and its use in electrochemical sensing.

Polyacrylonitrile nonwovens intercalated with graphene oxide (GO) sheets were prepared by a simultaneous electrospinning-spray deposition system. These hybrid nonwovens were carbonized in a two-stage process to obtain a mesostructured hybrid carbon containing carbon nanofibers (CNF) and reduced GO sheets (CNF/RGO). During the carbonization process, the CNF act as spacers between the RGO layers to prevent their compactation and restacking resulting in a three-dimensional structure. The presence of RGO increases the electrical conductivity in the CNF/RGO material. The resulting hybrid carbon is nitrogen-doped as indicated by x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and Fourier transformed infrared spectroscopy. This N-doped porous carbon was used to prepare electrodes with improved sensitivity for the electrochemical detection of L-cysteine.

Biocatalytic synthesis of polypyrrole powder, colloids, and films using horseradish peroxidase.

Polypyrrole was synthesized in high yield by a biocatalytic method in mild aqueous media using hydrogen peroxide as oxidizer. A redox mediator, 2,2'-azino-bis(3-ethylbenzthiazoline-6-sulfonic acid) (ABTS) diammonium salt, was used to oxidize the pyrrole. ABTS is a very effective peroxidase substrate, which was enzymatically oxidized to generate a radical cation that in turn was able to chemically oxidize pyrrole. This indirect biocatalytic method was implemented because pyrrole is not a substrate of horseradish peroxidase, however, the polymerization process was successfully optimized and later adapted to prepare also polypyrrole thin films and water dispersible polypyrrole colloids. The polypyrrole powder and colloids were characterized by scanning electron microscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, electrical conductivity, and thermogravimetric analysis. In addition, the deposition of the polypyrrole thin film was monitored using a quartz-crystal microbalance and its morphology studied by optical and scanning electron microscopy. The biocatalytic polymerization of pyrrole results in a polymer spectroscopically very similar to chemically synthesized polypyrrole.