Synthesis and electrochemical performance of ordered mesoporous carbons with different pore characteristics for electrocatalytic oxidation of hydroquinone

In this paper, three samples of ordered mesoporous carbon (OMC-x) materials with different pore characteristics were prepared by templating SBA-15 mesoporous silica materials. The pore characteristics of the obtained OMC-x materials were easily controlled by varying the sucrose to silica weight ratio (x) of 0.6, 1.25 and 3 in the synthesis process. OMC-0.6, OMC-1.25 and OMC-3 were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), nitrogen adsorption–desorption isotherm and Raman spectroscopy. By coating OMC-x onto glassy carbon (GC) electrode, the electrochemical characterization of the mesoporous carbons with different pore characteristics was firstly carried out and the electrochemical behaviors of hydroquinone (HQ) were studied at OMC-x/GC electrode for the first time, which all exhibit strong electrocatalytic response. Using the ferricyanide system, the electrochemical behavior of OMC-0.6/GC electrode is found to be improved and the electrocatalytic oxidation of HQ is investigated with OMC-0.6/GC electrode. The results show that OMC-0.6/GC electrode could be a promising candidate for effectively electrochemical sensors for the detection of HQ due to its very low detection limit (0.3 nmol L−1) and fast response.