Microwave-Assisted Synthesis of a Polypyrrole/Graphene Composite Using a Pyrrole-Induced Graphene Oxide Hydrogel for the Selective Determination of Dihydroxybenzenes

Pyrrole was utilized to induce the cross-link of graphene oxide, resulting in a stable hydrogel. Following, polypyrrole/graphene composite was prepared using direct microwave treatment of this pyrrole-induced hydrogel. Where, graphene oxide was chemically reduced and pyrrole in the composite was polymerized. The polypyrrole was homogeneously distributed throughout the graphene sheets. The as-synthesized composite had a three-dimensional, cross-linked structure with advanced electro-catalytic properties for hydroquinone and catechol. This feature was demonstrated by the superior electrochemical reversibility and good peak separation exhibited by the novel composite material. Accordingly, the detection of the two dihydroxybenzenes using this material produced a detection limit of 0.88 mu M for hydroquinone and 0.69 mu M for the catechol.