Synthesis of Novel Nanostructures of CuO, Their Characterization and Potential Applications for the Amperometric Detection of Dopamine

In this investigation, novel nanostructures of CuO are synthesized by hydrothermal method using biotemplates. The CuO nanomaterial was characterized by various analytical techniques such as scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). These techniques showed well controlled morphology, excellent crystalline quality, and high purity in chemical composition. The glassy carbon electrode was modified with these CuO nanostructures for the electrochemical determination of dopamine. The electrochemical response of modified electrodes was measured by cyclic voltammetry and amperometric techniques. The CuO nanostructures had shown excellent catalytic activity towards the oxidation of dopamine. The presented dopamine biosensor exhibits wide linear range of dopamine concentrations, low limit of detection, sensitive, selective and reproducible features. The linear range for the CuO nanostructures based dopamine biosensor falls in the range of 25 to 870 μM and limit of detection was found 0.1 μM. There was found negligible response for common interferents such as ascorbic acid, uric acid, and glucose. Finally, the proposed dopamine biosensor was potentially applied for the quantification of dopamine from real samples and the obtained results are very satisfactory. This study provides the solid route for other applications of CuO based on its improved catalytic properties.