Facile fabrication of 3D graphene–multi walled carbon nanotubes network and its use as a platform for natamycin detection

Abstract

In this work, a three dimensional graphene-multiwalled carbon nanotubes (3DG-MWCNTs) network is successfully fabricated on the surface of glassy carbon electrode (GCE) using pulse potential method (PPM) in a graphene oxide-multi walled carbon nanotubes (GO-MWCNTs) homogeneous dispersion. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) images and electrochemical experiments confirmed the 3D structure of interpenetrated graphene-MWCNTs network and excellent electrochemical performance. The 3DG-MWCNTs network was presented to develop a sensitive voltammetric sensor for detection of natamycin. Systematic electrochemical tests demonstrate that the 3DG-MWCNTs network modified electrode can effectively increase response to the oxidation of natamycin due to the large accessible surface area as well as its excellent conductivity. Under optimized conditions, the voltammetric sensor showed a linear relationship in the range of 5.0 × 10−8–2.5 × 10−6 mol L−1 and a low detection limit of 1.0 × 10−8 mol L−1. Moreover, the proposed method was also applied for detection of natamycin content in real samples (commercial red wine and beverage).