Graphene Paper Decorated with a 2D Array of Dendritic Platinum Nanoparticles for Ultrasensitive Electrochemical Detection of Dopamine Secreted by Live Cells

Abstract

To circumvent the bottlenecks of non-flexibility, low sensitivity, and narrow workable detection range of conventional biosensors for biological molecule detection (e.g., dopamine (DA) secreted by living cells), a new hybrid flexible electrochemical biosensor has been created by decorating closely packed dendritic Pt nanoparticles (NPs) on freestanding graphene paper. This innovative structural integration of ultrathin graphene paper and uniform 2D arrays of dendritic NPs by tailored wet chemical synthesis has been achieved by a modular strategy through a facile and delicately controlled oil-water interfacial assembly method, whereby the uniform distribution of catalytic dendritic NPs on the graphene paper is maximized. In this way, the performance is improved by several orders of magnitude. The developed hybrid electrode shows a high sensitivity of 2 μA cm-2 μm-1, up to about 33 times higher than those of conventional sensors, a low detection limit of 5 nm, and a wide linear range of 87 nm to 100 μm. These combined features enable the ultrasensitive detection of DA released from pheochromocytoma (PC 12) cells. The unique features of this flexible sensor can be attributed to the well-tailored uniform 2D array of dendritic Pt NPs and the modular electrode assembly at the oil-water interface. Its excellent performance holds much promise for the future development of optimized flexible electrochemical sensors for a diverse range of electroactive molecules to better serve society. Graphene paper biosensor: A hybrid flexible electrochemical biosensor has been built upon graphene paper decorated with dendritic Pt NPs for the detection of dopamine. It shows a high sensitivity of 2 μA cm-2 μm-1, a low detection limit of 5 nm, and a wide linear range of 87 nm to 100 μm. These features enable the ultrasensitive detection of dopamine released from pheochromocytoma (PC 12) cells.