Template-assisted self-assembly method to prepare three-dimensional reduced graphene oxide for dopamine sensing

Three-dimensional reduced graphene oxide (3D-rGO) materials have been successfully prepared by a template-assisted self-assembly method using polystyrene spheres (PSs) as sacrificial templates. PSs-rGO hybrids were prepared by self-assembly of PSs and GO through the pi-pi interaction, followed by reduction of such hybrids using hydrazine as reducing agent. 3D-rGO materials were obtained after removal of PSs in PSs-rGO hybrids by toluene. The combined characterizations of field emission scanning electron microscope (FE-SEM), transmission electron microscope (TEM), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) indicate the successful preparation of 3D-rGO materials. More importantly, 3D-rGO materials thus obtained exhibit good sensing performances for electrochemical detection of dopamine (DA), leading to a high-performance DA sensor. The DA sensor based on 3D-rGO materials has been evidenced to exhibit a better sensing performances than that of rGO and poly-(vinylpyrrolidone) (PVP)-stabilizing rGO. Furthermore, differential pulse voltammetry (DPV) indicates that the 3D-rGObased DA sensor could be effectively used for DA sensing in the presence of ascorbic acid (AA) and uric acid (UA), indicating high selectivity of the DA sensor based on 3D-rGO materials. (C) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.