Three-dimensional phosphorus-doped graphene as an efficient metal-free electrocatalyst for electrochemical sensing

Three-dimensional (3D) porous architecture enables the high exploration of graphene excellent properties, i.e. large surface area and superior conductivity. Additionally, heteroatoms doping can improve the electrocatalytic activity of graphene by creating abundant defective/active sites. To combine the prominent advantages of 3D porous structure and heteroatoms doping, we reported the facile synthesis of 3D phosphorus (P)-doped graphene (3D-PG) and evaluated its potential application in electrochemical H2O2 sensing. As an efficient metal-free electrocatalyst, 3D-PG modified electrode exhibited exceptional sensing performances for sensitive, selective and stable detection of H2O2, which was ascribed to the synergistic effects of 3D porous structure and P-doping in significantly enhancing the eletrocatalytic activity for H2O2 reduction reaction. More importantly, the 3D-PG based sensor could be used for real-time tracking H2O2 released from living HeLa cells, hence making 3D-PG a potential high-performance electrocatalyst for practical electrochemical sensing.