Electrochemical detection of clenbuterol with gold-nanoparticles-modified porous boron-doped diamond electrode

Abstract

In this work, an electrochemical electrode material consisting of porous boron-doped diamond (pBDD) films modified with gold nanoparticles (Au-NPs), named as Au-pBDD, has been fabricated by a wet annealing process of water vapor on a BDD film surface with a sputtered Au nanolayer. Experimentally, the electrochemical sensor with the Au-pBDD electrode exhibits high sensitivity to clenbuterol (CLB) with a low detection limit of 0.066 µM and a wide linear detection range of 0.1 µM–100 µM. The high performance sensitivity can be attributed to the designed electrode having increased surface area with porous structure and reduced impedance by depositing Au nanoparticle, leading to the effective improvement of the electrochemical activity. The reproducibility, stability, repeatability, and anti-interference for the electrodes, which are required in practical applications, have been examined showing higher performances with respect to the most traditional electrodes for trace CLB detection.