Layer-by-layer construction of graphene/cobalt phthalocyanine composite film on activated GCE for application as a nitrite sensor

In this paper, a novel graphene/cobalt phthalocyanine composite film was prepared by layer-by-layer (LBL) technique which for the first time used the activated positively charged glassy carbon electrode (A-GCE) as the substrate. The surface morphology of graphene/cobalt phthalocyanine composite film was characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and atomic force microscope (AFM). It is found that graphene/cobalt phthalocyanine composite film modified GCE exhibits good catalytic activity toward the oxidation of nitrite. The oxidation current barely decreases in consecutive CV test. Furthermore, the modified GCE shows long-term stability after 70 days. The super good stability can be attributed to the immobilization and dispersion of electroactive cobalt phthalocyanine by graphene, and using A-GCE as substrate which can enhance the interaction force between GCE and electroactive cobalt phthalocyanine. The nitrite sensor shows rather low detection limit of 0.084 μM at a signal-to-noise ratio = 3 (S/N = 3).

Graphical abstractA novel nitrite sensor was prepared by using LBL technique which for the first time used the activated positively charged glassy carbon electrode (A-GCE) as the substrate. The nitrite sensor shows super stability for consecutive CV testing and rather low detection limit.Figure optionsDownload full-size imageDownload as PowerPoint slide