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Modulating Metal‐Free and Non‐Enzymatic Electrocatalytic Activity of sp 2 Carbons Towards H 2 O 2 Reduction by a Facile and Low‐Temperature Electrochemical Approach
Author(s) -
Manju Venkatesan,
Vusa Chiranjeevi S. R.,
Arumugam Palaniappan,
Berchmans Sheela
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
chemelectrochem
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.182
H-Index - 59
ISSN - 2196-0216
DOI - 10.1002/celc.201801232
Subject(s) - electrochemistry , electrocatalyst , cyclic voltammetry , x ray photoelectron spectroscopy , glassy carbon , graphene , raman spectroscopy , metal , nitrogen , carbon fibers , electrode , chemistry , nuclear chemistry , materials science , analytical chemistry (journal) , nanotechnology , chemical engineering , organic chemistry , physics , optics , composite material , composite number , engineering
Designing a self‐supported and binder‐free electrocatalyst for electrochemical detection of bio‐analytes is an intriguing area of research on electrochemical sensors. Herein, glassy carbon GC and graphene (Gr) were transformed to self‐supported and binder‐free electrocatalysts (N−GCE and N−Gr) for metal‐free and non‐enzymatic H 2 O 2 detection by a simple electrochemical incorporation of nitrogen on their surfaces. The presence of nitrogen and its functional groups in N−GCE and N−Gr was confirmed by Raman, X‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy and cyclic voltammetry. We found that the nitrogen incorporated surfaces, N−GCE and N−Gr show enhanced electrocatalytic activity compared to the oxygen incorporated surfaces, O−GCE and O−Gr, and plain GCE and Gr. The apparent electron transfer rate constant, k a of N−GCE and N−Gr increased significantly after nitrogen incorporation. The N−GCE and N−Gr show enhanced electrochemical performance towards H 2 O 2 in terms of sensitivity, selectivity, stability, and reusability. The rate determining step of H 2 O 2 reduction at N−GCE and N−Gr was determined by rotating disc electrode experiments. Also, N−GCE and N−Gr are shown to be potential candidates for the detection of H 2 O 2 in real samples like urine and milk. The hidden potential of the method reported is that it can be extended to design many novel electrocatalytic materials simply by selecting a proper allotrope of carbon from the wide list of carbon allotropes.