The Electrochemical Detection of Dopamine Based on the Cobalt-Modified Nitrogen Doping Carbon Aerogels from Biomass

The sensitive detection of dopamine (DA), especially the accurate monitoring of cell secreted DA, is necessary to the study on pathogenesis of central nervous system disease. In this paper, the cobalt-modified nitrogen doping carbon aerogels (Co-NCA) with three dimensional pores were successfully synthesized through the hydrothermal and freeze-drying method of the biomass. As a natural substance, starch is the carbon source of Co-NCA, which is environmentally friendly. The electrochemically active area of electrode modified by Co-NCA was about 1.53 times that of carbon aerogels. Benefiting from the Co and N element, the Co-NCA modified electrode (Co-NCA/GCE) showed that Co-NCA had a wider linear range (0.2–200 μM and 200–1000 μM) and a lower detection limit (55.6 nM) towards DA. The reproducibility and repeatability of Co-NCA/GCE for detecting 500 μM DA was 2.21% and 0.797%, respectively. After stored at 4 °C for 7 days, the current response of Co-NCA/GCE still maintained 96.5% of the initial current value. Finally, the Co-NCA/GCE was successfully applied to the monitoring of DA, which was released from PC12 cells after stimulated by 50 mM K+.