Design of templated nanoporous carbon electrode materials with substantial high specific surface area for simultaneous determination of biomolecules

Nanoporous carbon materials have attracted significant interests in the design of electrodes for electrocatalysis and biosensors. Here, three templated nanoporous carbons (TNCs) materials with substantial different specific surface area were designed and synthesized by a nanocasting method, in which mesoporous silicates and acid were used as template and catalyst, respectively. The TNCs were then used as electrode materials for simultaneous detection of dopamine (DA), ascorbic acid (AA) and uric acid (UA) at physiological pH. The correlations between specific surface area, edge-plane defect sites in TNCs and their distinguishing ability towards AA, DA, and UA were investigated. For TNCs with substantial larger specific surface area and more defect sites, the oxidation peaks of AA, DA and UA were separated well and their oxidation currents increased remarkably. A highly sensitive electrochemical sensor for simultaneous detection of those biomolecules was achieved by designing TNCs1 with the largest specific surface area and the most defect sites as the electrode material. The sensitivity of AA, DA and UA at the sensor is 0.012, 4.031, 0.605 mu A/mu M respectively. Results suggest that TNCs1 is promising in biomolecules simultaneous detection. This work may also be valuable for scientists who search for excellent carbon materials for biosensing and electrocatalysis. (C) 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.