Highly sensitive electrochemical sensing based on 2-hydroxypropyl-β-cyclodextrin-functionalized graphene nanoribbons

•A novel nanohybrid 2-hydroxypropyl-β-cyclodextrin-functionalized graphene nanoribbons (HP-β-CD/GNRs) was produced for the first time•New electrochemical sensors for p-aminophenol, l-tyrosine, and rhodamine B were developed based on HP-β-CD/GNRs hybrids•The sensors show good analytical performance.

In this communication, 2-hydroxypropyl-β-cyclodextrin (HP-β-CD) funtionalized graphene nanoribbons (HP-β-CD/GNRs) were prepared for the first time by using a simple wet chemical strategy, and then, the HP-β-CD/GNRs were applied for constructing electrochemical sensors for three representative analytes (p-aminophenol, p-AP; l-tyrosine, Tyr; rhodamine B, RhB). Owing to the synergetic effects of GNRs (excellent electrochemical properties and large surface area) and HP-β-CD (high host–guest recognition and enrichment capability), the highly sensitive electrochemical sensing platforms of three analytes were established by using HP-β-CD/GNRs modified electrode, and the detection limits were 0.0008, 0.003, and 0.001 μM for p-AP, Tyr, and RhB, respectively.

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