Hydrothermal Synthesis of Boron-Doped Graphene for Electrochemical Sensing of Guanine

Abstract

© 2015 The Electrochemical Society.In this study, boron-doped graphene (B-G) nanosheets (Ns) were synthesized using NaBH 4 as both reductant and source of boron (B) dopant atoms during hydrothermal treatment of graphene oxide (GO), in the presence of poly(diallyldimethylammonium chloride) (PDDA). The as-prepared material was characterized by several analysis techniques, such as scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and voltammetry. The electrochemical performance of the synthesized PDDA functionalized B-G nanocomposite-modified glass carbon electrode (GCE) toward guanine was investigated. The results show, that the incorporation of B atoms into the structure of G significantly improved its electrocatalytic activity toward guanine oxidation. The PDDA/B-G based electrochemical sensor exhibits linear relationship between guanine concentration in the range from 1 × 10 -6 to 7.5 × 10 -5 mol L -1, with detection limit of 3.9 × 10 -7 mol L -1. This approach of using B-doped graphene provides a feasible approach for fabrication of electrochemical sensor.