Phenylalanine-Rich Peptide Mediated Binding with Graphene Oxide and Bioinspired Synthesis of Silver Nanoparticles for Electrochemical Sensing

We demonstrated that a phenylalanine-rich peptide molecule, (FEFEFKFK)(2), could be used for the biofunctionalization of graphene oxide (GO) and the bioinspired synthesis of silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) for the creation of functional GO-AgNPs nanohybrids. The successful synthesis of GO-AgNPs nanohybrids was proven by the characterizations of atomic force microscopy, transmission electron microscope, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. The fabricated electrochemical H2O2 sensor based on the synthesized GO-AgNPs nanohybrids showed high performances with a linear detection range 0.02-18 mM and a detection limit of 0.13 M. The design of graphene-binding peptides is of benefit to the biofunctionalization of graphene-based materials, the synthesis of novel graphene-peptide nanohybrids, and the potential applications of graphene in biomedical fields.