ZIF-8-derived N-doped porous carbon coated reduced graphene oxide as ultrasensitive platform and its application for electrochemical sensing

Here, zeolitic imidazolate framework-8 (ZIF-8)-derived N-doped porous carbon coated reduced graphene oxide (NPC@rGO) sheets have been fabricated as supporting platform to construct low-load and high-performance sensing material for electrochemical detection. In order to investigate the function of NPC@rGO sheets, Ag nanoparticles loaded in NPC@rGO (AgNPs@NPC@rGO) were prepared by the process of carbonization and porosity. Such AgNPs@NPC@rGO sheets exhibited excellent performances for the detection of H2O2, while the content of Ag in the AgNPs@NPC@rGO sheets was 16.17 wt%. The main electrochemical performance parameters of the H2O2 sensor based on AgNPs@NPC@rGO modified glassy carbon electrode (AgNPs@NPC@rGO/GCE) were the sensitivity of 493 mu A mM(-1) cm(-2), the detection limit of 1.4 mu M, and the linear detection range from 25 mu M to 15,000 mu M (R = 0.99967). The performance benefits of AgNPs@NPC@rGO sheets were considered in this work, which could be attributed to the structural and compositional advantages of NPC@rGO. On the one hand, the high-density active sites were stabilized in NPC, while NPC provided the pore structure for the diffusion of the detection target, leading to the high-efficiency electrochemical reaction. On the other hand, rGO as the core of support material played the role of structural framework and connection. (C) 2020 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Automated summary

The AgNPs@NPC@rGO sheets, fabricated as a supporting platform for electrochemical detection with high-performance, exhibited excellent performances in H2O2 detection due to the structural advantages of NPC and compositional benefits of rGO. This study highlights the importance of designing and optimizing sensing materials for efficient electrochemical reactions.