Electrochemistry of partially unzipped N-doped carbon nanotubes

Defect rich partially unzipped N-doped carbon nanotubes (PU-NCNTs) were synthesized by the chemical unzipped N-doped carbon nanotubes (NCNTs). Compared with NCNTs, PU-NCNTs exhibit faster electron transfer kinetics in representative inner- and outer-sphere redox probes as well as higher selectivity and sensitivity toward dopamine detection. These properties are due to their unique caterpillar-like carbon nanotube-graphene complex structure with high proportion of defect/edge sites, large accessible surface area and high electrical conductivity, thus reveals as a promising platform for further applications in electrochemical sensing.