Preparation, Characterization, and Electrocatalytic Performance of Graphene-Methylene Blue Thin Films

We report a general method to graft aromatic molecules onto graphene thin film electrodes through a simple immersion process. Large-area electroactive graphene thin films grafted with methylene blue (MB) have been developed as electrocatalytic electrodes for the oxidation of beta-nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NADH). The oxidation of NADH starts from -0.08 V (vs. Ag/AgCl) at the graphene-MB thin film electrodes, showing a decrease of 530 mV in overpotential compared to a Ti metal electrode. The graphene-MB thin films have promising applications in biosensors and biofuel cells due to their ability to promote NADH electron transfer reaction.