Highly Efficient Electrochemical Sensing of Acetaminophen by Cobalt Oxide-Embedded Nitrogen-Doped Hollow Carbon Spheres
Velu Duraisamy, Velayutham Sudha, Venkataraman Dharuman, Sakkarapalayam Murugesan Senthil Kumar
Abstract
With respect to sensor application investigations, hollow mesoporous carbon sphere-based materials of the spinel type of cobalt oxide (Co 3 O 4 ) and heteroatom-doped materials are gaining popularity. In this contribution, dopamine hydrochloride (DA) and cobalt phthalocyanine (CoPc) precursors were employed to construct a highly homogeneous Co 3 O 4 -embedded N-doped hollow carbon sphere (Co 3 O 4 @NHCS) by a straightforward one-step polymerization procedure. The resulting Co 3 O 4 @NHCS materials may effectively tune the surface area, defect sites, and doping amount of N and Co elements by altering the loading amount of CoPc. The relatively high surface area, greater spherical wall thickness, enriched defect sites, and better extent of N and Co sites are all visible in the best 200 mg loaded Co 3 O 4 @NHCS-2 material. This leads to significant improvement in pyridine and graphitic N site concentrations, which offers exceptional electrochemical performance. Electrochemical analysis was used to study the electrocatalytic activity of Co 3 O 4 @NHCSs towards the sensing of pharmacologically active significant compounds (acetaminophen). Excellent sensor properties include the linear range (0.001–0.2 and 1.0–8.0 mM), sensitivity, limit of detection (0.07 and 0.11 μM), and selectivity in the modified Co 3 O 4 @NHCSs/GCE. The authentic sample (acetaminophen tablet) produces a satisfactory result when used practically.