Well-dispersed poly(m-phenylenediamine)/silver composite for non-enzymatic amperometric glucose sensor applied in a special alkaline environment

Abstract

A poly(m-phenylenediamine)/sliver (PmPD/Ag) composite electrode was fabricated by in situ generation of solver particles on the surface of poly(m-phenylenediamine) (PmPD) matrix, and its electrochemical and amperometric non-enzymatic sensor performances were studied under the different electrolytes. And the characteristics of PmPD/Ag composite were also measured by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), ultraviolet visible (UV-vis) absorption spectrum, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), respectively. The results of SEM indicated that the PmPD/Ag composite has been successfully prepared and the silver (Ag) particles were well dispersed on the surface of the PmPD matrix. And FTIR and UV-vis demonstrated that the introduction of Ag particles facilitated the charge transfer along the PmPD polymer chain, which is beneficial to the improvement of electrochemical performances. Furthermore, the electrochemical and sensor performances based on PmPD/Ag composite were investigated by cyclic voltammetry (CV) and amperometric i-t curve. The research results demonstrated that PmPD/Ag composite electrode in the alkaline environment showed an outstandingly electrochemical catalysis characteristic to glucose, such as a low detection limit of 7.2 μM, a wide linear range of 12.5 μM to 23.0 mM (R = 0.998), a short response time (within 3 s), and high sensitivity (1611.9 μA mM−1 cm−2) and stability (87% remains after 30 days). The constructed non-enzymatic sensor was one of the promising candidates due to its superior sensitivity, selectivity, and reproducibility.