One-step synthesis of poly(thionine)-Au nano-network and nanowires and its application for non-enzyme biosensing of hydrogen peroxide

•Poly(thionine)-Au nano-network and nanowires were prepared by one-step approach.•Poly(thionine)-Au nano-network was used for H2O2 determination.•Fast detection of H2O2 with wide linear range and low detection limit was achieved.•The sensor exhibited good stability, reproducibility and selectivity.

We describe the preparation of novel poly(thionine)-Au materials, where the poly(thionine)-Au nano-network and nanowires have been synthesized in aqueous solution via the polymerization of thionine using HAuCl4 as the oxidant in a single reaction setup. The synthesis process does not require templates, nor does it require large amounts of organic solvents or electrochemical methods. The morphology of the nanocomposites can be controlled by varying the thionine/HAuCl4 ratio. The resulting poly(thionine)-Au network was used to fabricate a novel non-enzyme hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) biosensor. In pH 7.0 phosphate buffer, almost interference-free determination of H2O2 was realized at − 0.1 V versus Ag/AgCl with a linear of 1 × 10− 4 to 5 × 10− 2 M, a correlation coefficient of 0.998 and a response time of < 2 s. The developed biosensor showed a detection limit of 0.2 μM (S/N = 3) with very good stability, reproducibility and high selectivity.

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