Electrochemical sensing of nitric oxide with functionalized graphene electrodes

Yifei M. Liu, Christian Punckt, Michael A. Pope, Alan Gelperin, Ilhan A. Aksay

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

40 Scopus citations

Abstract

The intrinsic electrocatalytic properties of functionalized graphene sheets (FGSs) in nitric oxide (NO) sensing are determined by cyclic voltammetry with FGS monolayer electrodes. The degrees of reduction and defectiveness of the FGSs are varied by employing different heat treatments during their fabrication. FGSs with intermediate degrees of reduction and high Raman ID to IG peak ratios exhibit an NO oxidation peak potential of 794 mV (vs 1 M Ag/AgCl), closely matching values obtained with a platinized Pt control (791 mV) as well as recent results from the literature on porous or biofunctionalized electrodes. We show that the peak potential obtained with FGS electrodes can be further reduced to 764 mV by incorporation of electrode porosity using a drop-casting approach, indicating a stronger apparent electrocatalytic effect on porous FGS electrodes as compared to platinized Pt. Taking into consideration effects of electrode morphology, we thereby demonstrate that FGSs are intrinsically as catalytic toward NO oxidation as platinum. The lowered peak potential of porous FGS electrodes is accompanied by a significant increase in peak current, which we attribute either to pore depletion effects or an amplification effect due to subsequent electrooxidation reactions. Our results suggest that the development of sensor electrodes with higher sensitivity and lower detection limits should be feasible with FGSs.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)12624-12630
Number of pages7
JournalACS Applied Materials and Interfaces
Volume5
Issue number23
DOIs
StatePublished - Dec 11 2013

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

  • General Materials Science

Keywords

  • electroanalysis
  • electrochemical sensing
  • functionalized graphene
  • intrinsic reactivity
  • nitric oxide
  • porosity

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