Development of a new electrochemical sensing platform based on MoO3-polypyrrole nanowires/MWCNTs composite and its application to luteolin detection

Abstract

In this paper, a novel sensing platform based on MoO3-polypyrrole nanowires /MWCNTs (MoO3-PPy NWs/MWCNTs) composite was developed for electrochemical detection of luteolin, a widely used antitumoral agent. One dimensional (1D) MoO3 NWs were synthesized by hydrothermal method, which shows a large specific surface area. PPy coating on the surface of MoO3 NWs not only increases the electrical conductivity of MoO3, but also prevents the aggregation of MoO3 NWs. MWCNTs serves as electrical conducting wires that connect MoO3-PPy NWs coaxial heterostructure NWs, which is beneficial to promote the transfer of electrons and the redox performance of catalyst. Due to the excellent synergic effect between MoO3-PPy NWs and MWCNTs, the sensor based on MoO3-PPy NWs/MWCNTs can detect luteolin with low limit of detection (LOD) down to 0.03 nM. Additionally, outstanding long-term stability, excellent selectivity and prominent reproducibility were obtained. Furthermore, luteolin in real samples was detected by the proposed sensor with good performance. The sensor based on MoO3-PPy NWs/MWCNTs provides a wide linear response ranging from 0.1 nM to 10.0 μM and a low limit of detection (LOD) of 0.03 nM (S/N = 3) for luteolin. The method has been applied to detect luteolin in chrysanthemum tea with recoveries of 96.00–108.20% and RSDs of 3.39–4.02% (n = 4).