Graphene supported chromium carbide material synthesized from Cr-based MOF/graphene oxide composites

•Graphene supported chromium carbide material (CrG) was synthesized from Cr-based MOF/graphene oxide composites.•CrG showed relatively high activity for dopamine oxidation and detection.•Linear relationship between scan rates (20–300 mV s−1) and the anodic currents on CrG/GCE implied a single diffusion-controlled kinetics.•CrG/GCE showed potentials in developing sensors for determination of dopamine.•The new facile method provided a reference and a new selection for the synthesis of graphene-supported metal materials.

A composite (Cr–G) made from chromium carbide (Cr3C2) and chemically converted graphene (G) was synthesized by calcining a Cr-based metal-organic framework (MIL-101) embedded with graphene oxide (GO). The MIL-101 embedded with graphene oxide (MGO) was synthesized by the self-assembly process of Cr(NO3)3·9H2O and terephthalic acid in the presence of exfoliated GO in hydrothermal way. The incorporation of large amounts of GO did not prevent the formation of MIL-101 units. After calcination, the MGO decomposes to form a conductive composite consisting of sheet-like Cr3C2 and G sheets with CrN and Cr2O3 impurities confirmed by X-ray diffraction. The Cr–G modified glassy electrode (Cr–G/GCE) showed excellent response to the electro-oxidation of dopamine. Significantly, not like most other electro-catalysts, Cr–G/GCE maintained the linear growth meaning a single diffusion controlled process even at high scan rate of 300 mV s−1. There was a low detection limit and broad linear range for Cr–G complex detection of dopamine.

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