Boron and nitrogen doped graphene quantum dots on a surface modified Cu mesh for the determination of dopamine and epinephrine

Abstract Advances in neurotransmitter detection have emerged to improve the diagnosis of mental disorders promptly and offer timely clinical treatment. However, quantifying the neurotransmitter simplifies as fast diagnosis, inexpensive operational costs, less time-consuming and miniaturized design with high configurations. Herein, amperometric detection of dopamine and epinephrine was assessed using a novel surface modified Cu mesh electrode decorated with B, N doped graphene quantum dots (B, N-GQD). The electro-polymerization PEDOT supported with B, N-GQD has been employed to fabricate modified Cu mesh to form the biosensor electrodes. The result indicated a linear steady-state response towards B, N-GQD/PEDOT/CuO modified Cu mesh electrode that exhibited a sensitivity 0.76 μA μM−1 cm−2 and a low limit of detection of 0.270 μM (S/N = 3) for the detection of dopamine. Similarly, in epinephrine detection, the B, N-GQD/PEDOT/CuO modified Cu mesh electrode revealed a high sensitivity of 2.44 μA μM−1 cm−2 and a low limit of detection of 0.084 μM (S/N = 3), respectively. Furthermore, the surface modified electrode showed excellent performance in interference and recovery test in urine samples. The surface modified Cu mesh electrode shows promise in sensing biomolecules due to the benefits of low cost and versatility for practical applications.