Gold nanoparticle film grown on quartz fiber and its application as a microsensor of nitric oxide

A simple electroless plating method for growing a gold nanoparticle (GNP) film on a quartz fiber by chemical liquid deposition was reported. The gold film coated quartz fiber possessed good conductivity and mechanical property, and can be used as a novel gold fiber microelectrode (GFME). Being electropolymerized with niacinamide (NA) and further coated by Nafion for GFME, a disposable nitric oxide (NO) electrochemical microsensor was fabricated. This microsensor exhibited high sensitivity based on the catalytic effect of GNPs and polyniacinamide (PNA) toward the oxidation of NO. A good linear relationship between the amperometric response of the microsensor and the concentration of NO in the range of 7.2 × 10−9–1.8 × 10−5 mol L−1 was achieved, along with a low detection limit of 3.6 nmol L−1 (S/N = 3). In vivo detection of NO release from mice liver indicated that this microsensor had a promising application in the field of biomedical analysis.