Porphyrin Functionalized Graphene for Sensitive Electrochemical Detection of Ultratrace Explosives

Porphyrin functionalized graphene is used to electrochemically detect nitroaromatic explosives. It is found that synergistic effects from the specific good adsorptive properties of porphyrin and the large electroactive surface area and fast charge transfer of graphene contribute to the sensitive detection. The porphyrin/graphene sensor shows an ultratrace detection of as low as 1 ppb of 2,4-dinitrotoluene, 0.5 ppb of 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene, 1 ppb of 1,3,5-trinitrobenzene and 2 ppb of 1,3-dinitrobenzene respectively and good reproducibility within 5.1% standard deviation for a series of 9 repetitive measurements. The porphyrin/graphene sensor provides a unique platform in the analysis of nitroaromatic explosives for various security and environmental applications.