Fe-Decorated Nitrogen-Doped Carbon Nanospheres as an Electrochemical Sensing Platform for the Detection of Acetaminophen

In this work, Fe-decorated nitrogen-doped carbon nanospheres are prepared for electrochemical monitoring of acetaminophen. Via a direct pyrolysis of the melamine-formaldehyde resin spheres, the well-distributed Fe-NC spheres were obtained. The as-prepared Fe-NC possesses enhanced catalysis towards the redox of acetaminophen for abundant active sites and high-speed charge transfer. The effect of loading Fe species on the electrochemical sensing of acetaminophen is investigated in detail. The synergistic effect of nitrogen doping along with the above-mentioned properties is taken advantage of in the fabrication of electrochemical sensors for the acetaminophen determination. Based on the calibration plot, the limits of detection (LOD) were calculated to be 0.026 mu M with a linear range from 0-100 mu M. Additionally satisfactory repeatability, stability, and selectivity are obtained.

Automated summary

By directly pyrolyzing melamine-formaldehyde resin spheres, well-distributed Fe-decorated nitrogen-doped carbon nanospheres (Fe-NC) were prepared for electrochemical monitoring of acetaminophen. The Fe-NC showed enhanced catalysis towards the redox of acetaminophen due to abundant active sites and high-speed charge transfer. The effect of loading Fe species on the electrochemical sensing of acetaminophen was investigated in detail. The nitrogen doping and above-mentioned properties were used synergistically in the fabrication of electrochemical sensors, which exhibited a linear detection range from 0-100 μM with a detection limit of 0.026 μM, as well as satisfactory repeatability, stability, and selectivity.