Highly sensitive and selective detection of dopamine based on hollow gold nanoparticles-graphene nanocomposite modified electrode

Highly dispersed hollow gold-graphene (HAu-G) nanocomposites were synthesized by a two-step method. The immobilization of hollow gold nanoparticles (HAu NPs) onto the surface of graphene sheets was achieved by mixing an aqueous solution of HAu NPs with a poly(N-vinylpyrrolidone)-functionalized graphene dispersion at room temperature. A glassy carbon electrode (GCE) was modified with the nanocomposites, and the as-prepared modified electrode displayed high electrocatalytic activity and extraordinary electronic transport properties. Amperometric detection of dopamine (DA) performed with the HAu-G modified electrode exhibits a good linearity between 0.08 and 600 mu M with a low detection limit of 0.05 mu M (S/N = 3) and also possesses good reproducibility and operational stability. The interference of ascorbic acid (AA) and uric acid (UA) can be excluded when using differential pulse voltammetric technique. In addition, this type of modified electrode can also be applied to the determination of DA content in dopamine hydrochloride injection. It is obvious that the HAu-G modified electrode provides a new way to detect dopamine sensitively and selectively. (C) 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.