Copper dendrites: Synthesis, mechanism discussion, and application in determination of L-tyrosine

Highly uniform copper dendrites were successfully prepared in large quantities using a facile hydrothermal approach, which was prepared from the reaction of cupreous nitrate and sodium hypophosphite with different ratios of diethanolamine (DEA)/water. Well-defined assembly of uniform dendrites with an average size of 20 mu m can be obtained after a simple size-selection process. The influences of the ratio of DEA/water, and different reaction times and temperatures have been discussed. In addition, a gold electrode modified with copper dendrites was constructed and characterized by electrochemical impendance spectrum (EIS) and cyclic voltammetry (CV). The resulting copper dendrite modified gold electrode was used to detect L-tyrosine in the solution. The results showed that the copper dendrites may be of great potential in the determination of L-tyrosine.