A facile one-step synthesis of Fe2O3/nitrogen-doped reduced graphene oxide nanocomposite for enhanced electrochemical determination of dopamine

Abstract

Fe2O3/nitrogen-doped reduced graphene oxide (Fe2O3/N-rGO) was synthesized for enhanced electrochemical determination of dopamine (DA). The nanocomposite was synthesized through a facile one-step hydrothermal method, where ethylenediamine served as reducing agent, nitrogen source and coordinating agent, therefore making the reduction and nitrogen doping of GO and the formation of Fe2O3 occur simultaneously. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX), X-ray diffraction spectroscopy (XRD), fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), Raman spectroscopy and electrochemical techniques were employed to characterize Fe2O3/N-rGO. The results showed that large numbers of Fe2O3 with spindle morphology were distributed on the surface of N-rGO and the synergetic effect between Fe2O3 and N-rGO made the sensor based on Fe2O3/N-rGO exhibit an excellent performance toward DA detection with a wide linear range of 0.5 μM to 0.34 mM, a high sensitivity of 418.6 μA mM−1 cm−2 and a low detection limit of 0.49 μM (S/N = 3). Moreover, the sensor also exhibited good selectivity, reproducibility and stability. Therefore, Fe2O3/N-rGO can be applied as a promising type of sensing material for electrochemical detection of DA.