Metal-organic framework-derived molybdenum phosphide@mesoporous carbon composite for electrochemical acetaminophen detection

Abstract

Electrochemical methods have attracted great attention in the detection of acetaminophen (AP) due to their high sensitivity, rapidity, and simplicity. Molybdenum phosphide (MoP) with excellent catalytic activity and redox property has been widely used for electrochemical applications. In this work, MoP nanoparticles loaded with mesoporous carbon (MoP@C-D2) were successfully synthesized and characterized by powder X-ray diffraction (PXRD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) method, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). It is shown that the temperature rising process and the amount of polyoxometalate and NaH2PO2 can significantly affect the specific surface areas and pore structures of the product, thereby affecting their sensing performances. Structural studies indicated that MoP nanoparticles in MoP@C-D2 were uniformly dispersed in mesoporous carbon matrix, endowing the composite high conductivity, large specific surface area, and good catalytic activity. MoP@C-D2 modified electrode showed a wide linear detection range of 1.24–1071.4 μM, the detection of limit (LOD) of 0.008 μM, high stability, and good selectivity for AP detection. In addition, the constructed electrode can also be used to detect the content of AP in commercial medicine. This work extends the application of mesoporous MoP-based composite in electrochemical sensing.