Ultrasensitive voltammetric determination of catechol at a gold atomic cluster/poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) nanocomposite electrode

Abstract

A novel gold atomic cluster–poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) (AuAC/PEDOT/Au) nanocomposite modified gold electrode has been designed for the trace level sensing of catechol. The addition of copper(II) enhanced the electro-catalytic oxidation of catechol via the formation of copper(I). The electrochemically synthesized PEDOT/Au and the AuAC/PEDOT/Au hybrid films were characterized by electrochemical and morphological methods. Under optimal conditions the nanocomposite modified electrode offers a wider calibration range of 1 × 10⁻⁴ to 10 μM with a lowest detection limit of 6.3 pM for catechol. Moreover, the developed electrochemical sensor exhibited good selectivity and acceptable reproducibility (1.23% for 1 nM of catechol) and could be used for the routine detection and quantification of catechol in natural water samples. To gain a better understanding of such an excellent sensor performance achieved with this electrode, studies were undertaken to pinpoint electrode kinetics of charge transfer processes.