ZnO quantum dots engrafted graphene oxide thin film electrode for low level detection of ethyl acetate

• ZnO QDs are engrafted on EPD GO thin film based FTO substrates.
• GO–ZnO QDs are utilized as efficient working electrode in chemical sensor for the detection of ethyl acetate chemical.
• A significantly high sensitivity of ~16.035 mA mM−1 cm−2 is achieved.
• GO–ZnO QDs electrode shows good linearity and the LOD of ~26 µM.

Graphene oxide (GO)–ZnO quantum dots (QDs) thin film electrode was prepared by the deposition of ZnO QDs through spin coating over the surface of electrophoretic deposited (EPD) GO on FTO substrate. The interaction of ZnO QDs with GO surface was confirmed by the crystalline, structural and optical properties of GO–ZnO QDs thin film. The prepared GO–ZnO QDs thin film was utilized as working electrode in chemical sensor for the low level detection of ethyl acetate (EA). GO–ZnO QDs thin film electrode based EA chemical sensor exhibited substantially high sensitivity of ~16.035 mA mM−1 cm−2, the limit of detection (LOD) of ~26 µM, limit of quantification (LOQ) of ~80 µM with correlation coefficient (R) of ~0.97879.