Electrochemical sensing platform based on covalent immobilization of thionine onto gold electrode surface via diazotization-coupling reaction

A novel electrochemical sensing platform by modification of electroactive thionine (Th) onto gold electrode surface was constructed, which was realized by diazotization of 4-aminothiophenol (ATP) self-assembled monolayer, followed by coupling of Th with the diazonium group to form a covalent diazo bond. A pair of well-defined redox peaks of Th was observed in the cyclic voltammetric measurement. The resulting diazo-ATP monolayer displayed superior electrical conductivity, which contributed to the sensitive detection of hydrogen peroxide (H2O2). The immobilized Th also showed a remarkable stability, which may benefit from the π-π stacking force and the covalent diazo bond between diazo-ATP and Th molecules. Under the optimized experimental conditions, the current fabricated non-enzyme and reagentless sensor could show a rapid response to H2O2 within 3 s and a linear calibration plot ranged from 1.0 × 10−6 to 6.38 × 10−3 M with a detection limit of 6.7 × 10−7 M. The current fabrication strategy of electroactive interface is expected to be used as a versatile route for the immobilization of more electroactive molecules and offer more opportunities for the applications in electrochemical sensor, biosensor, electrocatalysis, etc.