Stable Aqueous Dispersion of Graphene Nanosheets: Noncovalent Functionalization by a Polymeric Reducing Agent and Their Subsequent Decoration with Ag Nanoparticles for Enzymeless Hydrogen Peroxide Detection

An aqueous dispersion of graphene nanosheets (GNs) has been successfully prepared via chemical reduction of graphene oxide (GO) by hydrazine hydrate in the presence of poly[(2-ethyldimethylammonioethyl methacrylate ethyl sulfate)-co-(1-vinylpyrrolidone)] (PQ11), a cationic polyelectrolyte, for the first time. The noncovalent functionalization of GN by PQ11 leads to a GN dispersion that can be very stable for several months without the observation of any floating or precipitated particles. Several analytical techniques including UV-vis spectroscopy, Raman spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction (XRD), and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) have been used to characterize the resulting GNs. Taking advantages of the fact that PQ11 is a positively charged polymer exhibiting reducing ability, we further demonstrated the subsequent decoration of GN with Ag nanoparticles (AgNPs) by two routes: (1) direct adsorption of preformed, negatively charged AgNPs; (2) in-situ chemical reduction of silver salts. It was found that such Ag/GN nanocomposites exhibit good catalytic activity toward the reduction of hydrogen peroxide (H2O2), leading to an enzymeless sensor with a fast amperometric response time of less than 2 s. The linear detection range is estimated to be from 100 mu M to 40 mM (r = 0.996), and the detection limit is estimated to be 28 mu M at a signal-to-noise ratio of 3.