An electrogenerated chemiluminescence sensor based on gold nanoparticles@C60 hybrid for the determination of phenolic compounds

• Flowerlike gold nanoparticles@C60 was obtained through an in situ reduction method.
• A novel sensor based on flowerlike gold nanoparticles@C60 for detecting phenolic compounds
• This work shows a much lower detection limit and wider linear range.

This paper described a novel strategy for the construction of an electrogenerated chemiluminescence (ECL) sensor based on gold nanoparticles@C60 (AuNPs@C60) hybrid for detecting phenolic compounds. First, C60 was functionalized with l-cysteine. Subsequently, with C60 as the core, gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) are synthesized and grown through an in situ reduction method in the presence of ascorbic acid (AA). The resulted flowerlike AuNPs@C60 nanoparticles were modified onto the glassy carbon electrode to achieve the sensor (AuNPs@C60/GCE). Here, l-cysteine not only can improve the biocompatibility and hydrophilicity of C60 but also can enhance the electrogenerated chemiluminescence (ECL) of peroxydisulfate system. Furthermore, both AuNPs and C60 are also beneficial to the ECL of the peroxydisulfate system. Due to the combination of l-cysteine, AuNPs and C60, the proposed ECL sensor exhibited an excellent analytical performance. Under an optimum condition, the ECL intensity increased linearly with phenolic compounds. The linear ranges of 6.2×10−8–1.2×10−4 M, 5.0×10−8–1.1×10−4 M and 5.0×10−8–1.1×10−4 M were obtained for catechol (CC), hydroquinone (HQ) and p-cresol (PC), respectively, and the detection limits were 2.1×10−8 M, 1.5×10−8 M and 1.7×10−8 M, respectively. The AuNPs@C60 hybrid might hold a new opportunity to develop an ECL sensor.