Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2025 Jan 24;30(3):533.
doi: 10.3390/molecules30030533.

The Graphene Oxide/Gold Nanoparticles Hybrid Layers for Hydrogen Peroxide Sensing-Effect of the Nanoparticles Shape and Importance of the Graphene Oxide Defects for the Sensitivity

Krystian Pupel  1 , Kacper Jędrzejewski  1 , Sylwia Zoladek  1 , Marcin Palys  1 , Barbara Palys  1
Affiliations

The Graphene Oxide/Gold Nanoparticles Hybrid Layers for Hydrogen Peroxide Sensing-Effect of the Nanoparticles Shape and Importance of the Graphene Oxide Defects for the Sensitivity

Krystian Pupel et al. Molecules. .

Abstract

Graphene oxide (GO) and reduced graphene oxides (RGOs) show intrinsic electrocatalytic activity towards the electrocatalytic reduction of H2O2. Combining these materials with gold nanoparticles results in highly sensitive electrodes, with sensitivity in the nanomolar range because the electrocatalytic properties of GO and nanoparticles are synergistically enhanced. Understanding the factors influencing such synergy is crucial to designing novel catalytically active materials. In this contribution, we study gold nanostructures having shapes of nanospheres (AuNSs), nanourchins (AuNUs), and nanobowls (AuNBs) combined with GO or electrochemically reduced graphene oxide (ERGO). We investigate the amperometric responses of the hybrid layers to H2O2. The AuNUs show the highest sensitivity compared to AuNBs and AuNSs. All materials are characterized by electron microscopy and Raman spectroscopy. Raman spectra are deconvoluted by fitting them with five components in the 1000-1800 cm-1 range (D*, D, D", G, and D'). The interaction between nanoparticles and GO is visualized by the relative intensities of Raman bands (ID/IG) and other parameters in the Raman spectra, like various D", D* band positions and intensities. The ID/IG parameter is linearly correlated with the sensitivity (R2 = 0.97), suggesting that defects in the graphene structure are significant factors influencing the electrocatalytic H2O2 reduction.

Keywords: Raman intensities; gold nanoparticles; graphene; hydrogen peroxide sensing; non-enzymatic sensor; reactive oxygen species detection.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Scheme 1
Scheme 1
Overview of the studied systems.
Figure 1
Figure 1
TEM pictures of the studied gold nanoparticles: AuNBs (A); AuNUs (B), and AuNSs (C).
Figure 2
Figure 2
Cyclic voltammetry responses of (A) AuNSs; (B) AuNSs/ERGO; (C) AuNBs; (D) AuNBs/ERGO; (E) AuNUs; (F) AuNUs/ERGO layers on glassy carbon electrodes in de-aerated phosphate buffer at pH = 6.5 (a) without H2O2 and (b) with 2 mM of H2O2. Scan rate 10 mV/s. The current density is calculated using the geometric surface area of electrodes.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Amperometric responses (A) of ERGO (a); AuNUs (b); AuNUs/GO (c); and AuNUs/ERGO (d) with the corresponding calibration plots (B). The current density is calculated using the geometric surface area of electrodes.
Figure 4
Figure 4
The overview of the sensitivities of studied electrodes.
Figure 5
Figure 5
Raman spectra of the studied electrodes: (a) AuNUs/GO; (b) AuNBs/GO; (c) AuNSs/GO; (d) GO; (e) AuNUs/ERGO; (f) AuNBs/ERGO; (g) AuNSs/ERGO; and (h) ERGO.
Figure 6
Figure 6
Fitting of the 1000–1800 cm−1 spectral range with 5 bands. The red curve is the experimental spectrum of the AuNSs/ERGO layer; the black curve is the sum of the components D*, D, D″, G, and D′.
Figure 7
Figure 7
Sensitivities of the studied layers as the function of the parameters of Raman spectra: (A) as the function of the ID/IG ratio; (B) ID”/IG ratio; (C) ID’/IG ratio; (D) ID*/IG ration; (E) D” band position; (F) G band position.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Xing L., Zhang W., Fu L., Lorenzo J.M., Hao Y. Fabrication and Application of Electrochemical Sensor for Analyzing Hydrogen Peroxide in Food System and Biological Samples. Food Chem. 2022;385:132555. doi: 10.1016/j.foodchem.2022.132555. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Yu K., Li M., Chai H., Liu Q., Hai X., Tian M., Qu L., Xu T., Zhang G., Zhang X. MOF-818 Nanozyme-Based Colorimetric and Electrochemical Dual-Mode Smartphone Sensing Platform for in Situ Detection of H2O2 and H2S Released from Living Cells. Chem. Eng. J. 2023;451:138321. doi: 10.1016/j.cej.2022.138321. - DOI
    1. Di Marzo N., Chisci E., Giovannoni R. The Role of Hydrogen Peroxide in Redox-Dependent Signaling: Homeostatic and Pathological Responses in Mammalian Cells. Cells. 2018;7:156. doi: 10.3390/cells7100156. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Lennicke C., Cochemé H.M. Redox Metabolism: ROS as Specific Molecular Regulators of Cell Signaling and Function. Mol. Cell. 2021;81:3691–3707. doi: 10.1016/j.molcel.2021.08.018. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Thatikayala D., Ponnamma D., Sadasivuni K., Cabibihan J.-J., Al-Ali A., Malik R., Min B. Progress of Advanced Nanomaterials in the Non-Enzymatic Electrochemical Sensing of Glucose and H2O2. Biosensors. 2020;10:151. doi: 10.3390/bios10110151. - DOI - PMC - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources