(+)-Catechin-assisted graphene production by sonochemical exfoliation in water. A new redox-active nanomaterial for electromediated sensing

Filippo Silveri; Flavio Della Pelle; Daniel Rojas; Qurat Ul Ain Bukhari; Giovanni Ferraro; Emiliano Fratini; Dario Compagnone

doi:10.1007/s00604-021-05018-2

(+)-Catechin-assisted graphene production by sonochemical exfoliation in water. A new redox-active nanomaterial for electromediated sensing

Mikrochim Acta. 2021 Oct 7;188(11):369. doi: 10.1007/s00604-021-05018-2.

Authors

Filippo Silveri¹, Flavio Della Pelle², Daniel Rojas¹, Qurat Ul Ain Bukhari¹, Giovanni Ferraro³, Emiliano Fratini³, Dario Compagnone⁴

Affiliations

¹ Faculty of Bioscience and Technology for Food, Agriculture and Environment, University of Teramo, Campus "Aurelio Saliceti" via R. Balzarini 1, 64100, Teramo, Italy.
² Faculty of Bioscience and Technology for Food, Agriculture and Environment, University of Teramo, Campus "Aurelio Saliceti" via R. Balzarini 1, 64100, Teramo, Italy. fdellapelle@unite.it.
³ Department of Chemistry "Ugo Schiff" and CSGI, University of Florence, Via Della Lastruccia 3-Sesto Fiorentino, 50019, Florence, Italy.
⁴ Faculty of Bioscience and Technology for Food, Agriculture and Environment, University of Teramo, Campus "Aurelio Saliceti" via R. Balzarini 1, 64100, Teramo, Italy. dcompagnone@unite.it.

PMID: 34618244
DOI: 10.1007/s00604-021-05018-2

Abstract

A new green and effective sonochemical liquid-phase exfoliation (LPE) is proposed wherein a flavonoid compound, catechin (CT), promotes the formation of conductive, redox-active, water-phase stable graphene nanoflakes (GF). To maximize the GF-CT redox activity, the CT concentration and sonication time have been studied, and the best performing nanomaterial-fraction selected. Physicochemical and electrochemical methods have been employed to characterize the morphological, structural, and electrochemical features of the GF-CT nanoflakes. The obtained GF intercalated with CT exhibits fully reversible electrochemistry (ΔE_p = 28 mV, ipa/ipc = ⁓1) because of the catecholic adducts. GF-CT-integrated electrochemistry was generated directly during LPE of graphite, with no need of graphene oxide production, nor activation steps, electropolymerization, or ex-post functionalization. The GF-CT electro-mediator ability has been proven towards hydrazine (HY) and β-nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NADH) by simply drop-casting the redox-material onto screen-printed electrodes. GF-CT-based electrodes by using amperometry exhibited high sensitivity and extended linear ranges (HY: LOD = 0.1 µM, L.R. 0.5-150 µM; NADH: LOD = 0.6 µM, L.R. 2.5-200 µM) at low overpotential (+ 0.15 V) with no electrode fouling. The GF-CT electrodes are performing significantly better than commercial graphite electrodes and graphene nanoflakes exfoliated with a conventional surfactant, such as sodium cholate. Recoveries of 94-107% with RSD ≤ 8% (n = 3) for determination of HY and NADH in environmental and biological samples were achieved, proving the material functionality also in challenging analytical media. The presented GF-CT is a new functional redox-active material obtainable with a single-pot sustainable strategy, exhibiting standout properties particularly prone to (bio)sensors and cutting-edge device development.

Keywords: 2D materials; Chronoamperometry; Cyclic voltammetry; Functional nanomaterial; Hydrazine; Liquid-phase exfoliation; Nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide; Polyphenols.

MeSH terms

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Substances

graphene oxide
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