Electrochemical sensor for hydroquinone and catechol based on electrochemically reduced GO–terthiophene–CNT

Abstract The GO–TT–CNT hybrid material was prepared by the in-situ polymerization of graphene oxide (GO), multi-walled carbon nanotube (CNT), and terthiophene (TT). The GO–TT–CNT hybrid material was characterized via Raman spectroscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and field emission–scanning electron microscope (FE–SEM). The electrochemical detections of hydroquinone (HQ) and catechol (CC) were verified via cyclic voltammetry (CV), differential pulse voltammetry (DPV), and amperometric response. Electrochemically reduced GO–TT–CNT [ER(GO–TT–CNT)] was obtained through the electrochemical reduction of GO–TT–CNT in a PBS solution (pH 5). The ER(GO–TT–CNT) was employed to detect HQ and CC. The effects of ER(GO–TT–CNT) in various pH (pH 4.04–9.01) in the PBS solution were investigated for the detection of HQ and CC. The detection limits of HQ and CC were 3.5 × 10 −2 and 4.9 × 10 −3  μM, respectively. Resorcinol (RS), H 2 O 2 , and ascorbic acid (AA) as interference materials showed negligible effects on the HQ and CC responses, demonstrating the high selectivity of the proposed biosensor.