A novel popamine-imprinted chitosan/CuCo2O4@carbon/three-dimensional macroporous carbon integrated electrode

A novel Cu–Co-zeolite imidazole framework (Cu–Co-ZIF)-derived CuCo 2 O 4 @carbon nanocomposites supported on three-dimensional porous carbon (3D-KSC) were prepared to develop molecularly imprinted electrochemical sensors for sensing dopamine (DA). Firstly, polyhedral Cu–Co-ZIF was synthesized at room temperature and uniformly arrayed on 3D-KSC, and then the CuCo 2 O 4 @carbon nanostructure was obtained by high-temperature carbonization under nitrogen atmosphere. Finally, the molecularly imprinted polymer (MIPs) DA-imprinted chitosan was covered by potentiostatic electrodeposition to obtain the MIPs/CuCo 2 O 4 @carbon/3D-KSC integrated electrode. The results showed 15 μm-sized polyhedral Cu–Co-ZIF crystals were transformed into smaller irregular porous CuCo 2 O 4 @carbon nanocomposites with rough surface by calcination . Here, the produced 5 nm-sized CuCo 2 O 4 crystals were uniformly embedded into the N-doped porous carbon frameworks. Various experimental conditions including the amount of Cu–Co-ZIF grew on 3D-KSC, calcination temperature, electrodepositing time of MIPs, the eluted time of template molecule and the pH of electrolyte were explored. The as-prepared MIPs/CuCo 2 O 4 @carbon/3D-KSC integrated electrode exhibited excellent anti-interference ability and good stability. The sensitivity for DA detection was 720.8 μA mM −1 cm −2 , the detection range was 0.51 μM–1.95 mM, and the detection limit was 0.16 μM.