The study of adenine and guanine electrochemical oxidation using electrodes modified with graphene-platinum nanoparticles composites

Composite materials based on graphene and platinum nanoparticles (Gr-Pt-2 and Gr-Pt-3) were synthesized over two catalysts (Pt-x/MgO, where x=2 or 3 wt.%) using radio-frequency catalytic chemical vapor deposition (RF-CCVD), with methane as carbon source. After morphological (TEM/HRTEM) and structural characterization (XRD, XPS, FTIR and UV-Vis) they were used to modify two gold electrodes and subsequently employed for the investigation of adenine and guanine electrochemical oxidation. For the Au/Gr-Pt-2 electrode, the oxidation peak potential of adenine was observed at +1.19V vs. Ag/AgCl, while, for Au/Gr-Pt-3 electrode, this was negatively shifted to +1.09V vs. Ag/AgCl. In addition, the oxidation current densities were approximately 2.7 x 10(-4) and 6.9 x 10(-4) A.cm(-2) (for Au/Gr-Pt-2 and Au/Gr-Pt-3, respectively) demonstrating that the Gr-Pt-3 composite had a better electro-catalytic activity towards the oxidation of adenine. A similar behavior was observed for guanine oxidation. The excellent electro-catalytic properties of the Gr-Pt-3 sample were correlated with the fact that the composite material had a higher amount of platinum nanoparticles which were not fully covered by graphene layers (about 50%). In addition, it has a larger surface area (335 m(2).g(-1)) compared with that of the Gr-Pt-2 sample (271 m(2).g(-1)), which also greatly improved the electron kinetics. (C) 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.