Unique tetragonal starlike polyaniline microstructure and its application in electrochemical biosensing

Tetragonal starlike microstructures of polyaniline (PANI) doped with aspartic acid (AA) have been synthesized under hydrothermal conditions for the first time. It was found that the morphologies of the obtained samples were much sensitive to the concentration of the doping amino acid. Hydrothermal synthesis by monitoring the reaction time provided a platform for understanding the process of the polymerization. The products were characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), UV-visible spectroscopy (UV-vis), Fourier transmission infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), and X-ray diffraction (XRD). Furthermore, the tetragonal starlike PANI modified glassy carbon electrode (GCE) exhibited high electrocatalytic activity for sensing dopamine.