Multi-tailoring of a modified MOF-derived CuxO electrochemical transducer for enhanced hydrogen peroxide sensing

Analyst. 2021 Dec 20;147(1):72-79. doi: 10.1039/d1an01864g.

Abstract

Reasonable control of the redox states within the catalytic units together with the interconnection degrees of the substrate is of great significance in the modulation of a well-performing transducer. Herein, a novel carbon black (CB)-modified copper metal-organic framework nanomaterial (CB@Cu-MOF) prepared at room temperature was utilized as a precursor to synthesize mixed-valent copper-oxide composite catalysts (NC/CuxO-T). By tuning the carbonization process of the precursor at different temperatures (T = 100 °C, 200 °C, 300 °C and 400 °C), the different ratio configurations of the redox-alternated CuxO portions were successfully controlled with the simultaneous effective tailoring of the defect abundance in the N-doped carbon substrate. As a result, an optimized NC/CuxO-300 electrochemical H2O2 sensor was able to present a low detection limit (0.26 μM) and decent linear ranges (0.02-1.79 mM and 2.29-9.29 mM). Our strategy using easily available initial materials with mild preparation conditions is expected to promote the practical application of the star materials in laboratories.