A multi-component Cu2O@FePO4 core-cage structure to jointly promote fast electron transfer toward the highly sensitive in situ detection of nitric oxide

Nanoscale. 2019 Mar 7;11(10):4471-4477. doi: 10.1039/c8nr10198a.

Abstract

Electrochemical sensors actually involve an electrocatalytic process in efficient and selective energy conversion. In this work, we use different components to innovatively produce a core@cage material, in which the outer cage, iron phosphate, offers a high electrocatalytic ability to electrochemically oxidize NO, while the inner material, cuprous oxide, could absorb the intermediary HO- ions to kinetically promote NO oxidation for fast electron transfer, resulting in a strong synergistic effect. The unique core@cage structure also increases the active surface area and provides plenty of channels via the porous cage for significantly enhanced mass transport. The as-prepared core@cage NO sensor shows a high sensitivity of 326.09 μA cm-2 μM-1, which is the highest among the reported non-noble metal-based NO biosensors based on the electrooxidation scheme. A free-standing flexible NO sensor was further fabricated with the material for the in situ detection of NO released from cancer cells, demonstrating a low detection limit (0.45 nM) and a fast response time (0.8 s). This work holds great promise for its practical applications in the diagnosis or research of complicated biological processes, especially in real-time in situ detection approaches.

MeSH terms

  • Copper / chemistry*
  • Electrochemical Techniques / methods*
  • Electron Transport
  • Humans
  • Iron Compounds / chemistry*
  • MCF-7 Cells
  • Nitric Oxide / analysis*
  • Phosphates / chemistry*
  • Porosity

Substances

  • Iron Compounds
  • Phosphates
  • Nitric Oxide
  • Copper
  • cuprous oxide