ZIF-67-derived highly dispersed Co3O4 nanoparticles@hollow carbon chamfer cube-reduced graphene oxide for electrochemical detection of dopamine, acetaminophen and xanthine

The high dispersibility of active sites can be achieved through a zeolitic imidazolate framework-67 (ZIF-67)-derived strategy, which represents an effective way for improving the electrochemical performances. Herein, the Co3O4 nanoparticles coated hollow carbon chamfer cube-reduced graphene oxide (Co3O4NPs@HCCC-rGO) has been synthesized by using a novel ZIF-67 chamfer cube as a precursor. Such electrode material exhibits the coordination of the highly dispersed Co3O4NPs and the conductive carbonaceous materials. More importantly, the Co3O4NPs@HCCC-rGO has the characteristics of hollow material and two-dimensional material, which is a feasible way to improve the performances of electrode material. Owing to the compositional and structural advantages, the established electrochemical sensor based on Co3O4NPs@HCCC-rGO modified glassy carbon electrode shows excellent performances for the detection of dopamine (DA), acetaminophen (AC) and xanthine (XA). The main performance parameters of such electrochemical sensor are presented as follows. The detection limits are 33.7 nM for DA, 64.6 nM for AC and 237.5 nM for XA; The linear detection ranges are 0.1–10.0 μM (R2 = 0.9997) for DA, 0.1–10.0 μM (R2 = 0.9999) for AC and 0.5–60.0 μM (R2 = 0.9999) for XA.