Preparation of Nb2O5 decorated Reduced Graphene Oxide nanocomposites and their electrochemical behaviors for efficient rutin detection

Nb 2 O 5 decorated Reduced Graphene Oxide (Nb 2 O 5 -RGO) nanocomposites have been successfully prepared through a facile hydrothermal process, offering a synergistic hybrid structure that enhances electron-transfer efficiency and exposes abundant interfacial active sites. While Nb 2 O 5 -based materials have shown promise in electrocatalysis, their application in flavonoid sensing, particularly rutin detection, has rarely been reported, representing a key novelty of this work. Electrochemical investigation using cyclic voltammetry (CV) and differential pulse voltammetry (DPV) demonstrates that the Nb 2 O 5 -RGO-modified glassy carbon electrode (Nb 2 O 5 -RGO /GCE) exhibits excellent electrocatalytic activity toward rutin oxidation, with an ultralow detection limit of 8.7 × 10 −9 M (S/N = 3), which is superior to most electrochemical platforms reported to date, further highlighting the high sensitivity. In addition, the sensor shows strong repeatability, long-term stability, and satisfactory recovery (93.6–97.2 %) in real pharmaceutical tablet samples. Benefiting from its efficient charge-transfer pathways and robust structural stability, the Nb 2 O 5 -RGO nanocomposite represents a promising platform for practical electrochemical sensing. This work not only expands the application scope of Nb 2 O 5 -based materials, but also provides new guidance for designing high-performance metal-oxide/graphene hybrid sensors.