A novel ionic liquid functionalized graphene oxide supported gold nanoparticle composite film for sensitive electrochemical detection of dopamine

A simple and sensitive electrochemical sensor for detection of dopamine has been developed based on ionic liquid functionalized graphene oxide supported gold nanoparticles (GO-IL-AuNPs) coated onto a glassy carbon electrode. The prepared graphene oxide, ionic liquid functionalized graphene oxide and GO-IL-AuNPs were characterized in detail by scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. The electrochemical properties of the hybrid nanomaterials were evaluated through cyclic voltammetry and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy. Meanwhile, the activities of hybrid nanomaterials toward the oxidation of dopamine were analyzed via cyclic voltammetry and differential pulse voltammetry. The resulting sensor showed excellent electrocatalytic activity towards dopamine. Under the optimum conditions, differential pulse voltammetry was employed to detect ultra-trace amounts of dopamine, for which a wide linear range of 7 nM to 5 μM and a limit of detection 2.3 nM (S/N = 3) were obtained. The proposed sensor exhibited excellent accuracy and precision and the relative standard deviation (RSD) was less than 5%. The highly sensitive sensor was successfully used for accurate determination of the content of dopamine in practical samples.