Cobalt phthalocyanine tagged graphene nanoflakes for enhanced electrocatalytic detection of N-acetylcysteine by amperometry method

We have employed surfactant-assisted exfoliation method to prepare defect-free few-layer graphene flakes on a large scale. Various instrumental techniques like FT-IR, Raman, XRD, and FE-SEM were used to characterize the GNF. It can be used as a substrate to immobilize CoPc-treated GNF-based CPE that exhibits an enhanced electrocatalytic oxidation of NAC in 0.1 M PBS (pH 7.0). An enhanced oxidative peak current response was noted at + 0.33 V vs. Ag/AgCl for CoPc@GNF/CPE whereas the poor oxidation behavior was observed in the case of CoPc@rGO/CPE and CoPc/CPE. Electrochemical oxidation of NAC is a diffusion-controlled irreversible process which involves 2H(+)/2e(-) redox reaction. DPV and amperometry were employed for the determination of NAC and its linear ranges from 0.03-0.96 and 0.02-0.38 mu M with a detection limit of 11 and 6.5 nM, respectively for CoPc@GNF/CPE. The present system can be exploited for quantitative detection of NAC in drug formulations and urine samples.