Preparation and application of boron and fluorine co-doped rGO electrochemical sensor

Abstract

N, NF, and NS-doped reduced graphene oxide(rGO) are used for the detection of dopamine (DA), however, the sensitivity and linear detection range still need to be improved. In this paper, BF-doped reduced graphene oxide (BFrGO) synthesized by hydrothermal method using fluoroboric acid as boron and fluorine sources used for the efficient detection of DA. The electrochemical detection results under the optimal buffer solution pH = 3.4 showed that the sensitivity of its detection of DA is as high as 0.804 μA/μM, the linear detection range is in the range of 5–100 μM, and the detection limit is 0.98 μM. XPS showed the formation of BC3, BC2O, BCO2, C–F half-ionic and C–F ionic bonds. DFT calculations show that B doping of rGO provides active sites and enhances its electrical conductivity. and F doping of rGO introduces new electrically active sites and improves the charge transfer ability. The synergistic effect of BF provides more active sites and enhances the charge transfer ability and adsorption energy. The BFrGO as an electrochemical sensor will provide new research directions.