Gold Nanoparticles Decorated Graphene as a High Performance Sensor for Determination of Trace Hydrazine Levels in Water

• Published in: Electroanalysis (New York, N.Y.) Vol. 30; no. 8; pp. 1757 - 1766
• Main Authors: Amin, Hatem M. A., El‐Kady, Maher F., Atta, Nada F., Galal, Ahmed
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: 01.08.2018
• Subjects: Au nanoparticles; Electrochemical sensor; Electrophoretic deposition; Graphene; Hydrazine
• ISSN: 1040-0397; 1521-4109
• DOI: 10.1002/elan.201800125

Electrochemical sensors provide a selective, sensitive and an easy approach to detect hazardous substances such as hydrazine. Herein, we investigate a facile route for the fabrication of a nanostructured composite based on Au nanoparticles (AuNPs) decorated graphene and present its sensing performance towards hydrazine. Our strategy involves electrophoretic deposition (EPD) of graphene oxide (GO) on Au substrate to obtain a uniform layer EPD‐GO, followed by electrochemical reduction of GO to yield high quality graphene ERGO and electrodeposition of monodispersed AuNPs on ERGO (AuNPs/ERGO/Au). The modified AuNPs/ERGO/Au electrode was characterized using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT‐IR) techniques. The sensor exhibited an improved catalytic activity with a peak potential of +87 mV (vs. Ag/AgCl) for hydrazine oxidation. The high performance of this hybrid electrode is due to the presence of a synergistic effect between AuNPs and ERGO at their interface. Insights into the mechanism and kinetics of hydrazine oxidation are withdrawn from varying the voltage scan rate as the reaction is fully irreversible and diffusion‐controlled. The proposed hydrazine sensor showed suitability for nanomolar detection (detection limit of 74 nM), high selectivity in the presence of common ions and efficiency for application in water samples.