Enhanced electrochemical sensitivity towards acetaminophen determination using electroactive self-assembled ferrocene derivative polymer nanospheres with multi-walled carbon nanotubes

Abstract Electron mediators have the ability to facilitate electron acceptance and donation, which can accelerate the electron transfer during the electrochemical process. Few research has been reported about electroactive polymer nanospheres as redox mediators for sensing to date. In this study, we synthesized a new electroactive ferrocene derivative polymer nanospheres (FPS) via a facile and self-assembly method. The obtained FPS was characterized by UV–Vis spectra, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, transmission electron microscopy and dynamic light scattering. Based on the electroactive property of FPS, a new electrochemical sensor for acetaminophen (AP) based on the nanocomposite of multi-walled carbon nanotubes-ploy-diallyl-dimethyl-ammonium chloride-FPS (MWCNT- PDDA-FPS) was firstly developed. The greatly enhanced electrochemical performance towards AP determination can be obtained owing to the electrocatalysis of electroactive FPS and good conductivity of MWCNT. The AP sensor exhibits a wide sensing linear range from 3 to 1100 μM and the detection limit is 0.6 μM (S/N = 3). Therefore, these ferrocene derivative polymer nanospheres may become a new nanomaterial to construct of platforms for bioanalytical and electrochemical immune research in the future.