Fabrication of Cu-hemin metal-organic-frameworks nanoflower supported on three-dimensional reduced graphene oxide for the amperometric detection of H2O2

A novel electrochemical sensor based on Cu-hemin metal-organic-frameworks nanoflower/three-dimensional reduced graphene oxide (Cu-hemin MOFs/3D-RGO) was constructed to detect H2O2 released from living cells. The nanocomposite was synthesized via a facile co-precipitation method using hemin as the ligand, then decorated with 3D-RGO. The prepared Cu-hemin MOFs showed a 3D hollow spherical flower-like structure with a large specific surface area and mesoporous properties, which could load more biomolecules and greatly enhance the stability by protecting the activity of hemin. In addition, the introduction of 3D-RGO effectively enhanced the conductivity of Cu-hemin MOFs. Thus, the proposed sensor (Cu-hemin MOFs/3D-RGO/GCE) showed excellent electrochemical performances towards H2O2 with a wide linear range (10-24,400 mu M), high sensitivity (207.34 mu A mM(-1) cm(-2)), low LOD (0.14 mu M), and rapid response time (less than 3 s). Most importantly, we prepared a Cu-hemin MOFs/3D-RGO/ITO electrode with cells growing on it. Compared with detecting H2O2 in cell suspension by GCE-based electrode, adhesion of cells on ITO could shorten the diffusion distance of H2O2 from solution to the surface of the electrode and achieve in situ and a real-time monitor of H2O2 released by living cells. This self-supported sensing electrode showed great potential applications in monitoring the pathological and physiological dynamics of cancer cells.

Automated summary

A novel electrochemical sensor based on Cu-hemin MOFs/3D-RGO was constructed for detecting H2O2 released from living cells, showing excellent performance with wide linear range, high sensitivity, and rapid response time. The self-supported sensing electrode has great potential in monitoring cancer cells' pathological and physiological dynamics.