Enhanced conductivity of rGO/Ag NPs composites for electrochemical immunoassay of prostate-specific antigen

Electrode materials play a vital role in the development of electrochemical immunosensors (EIs), particularly of label-free EIs. In this study, composites containing reduced graphene oxide with silver nanoparticles (rGO/Ag NPs) were synthesized using binary reductants, i.e. hydrazine hydrate and sodium citrate. Due to the fact that graphene oxide (GO) was fully restored to rGO, and rGO stacking was effectively inhibited by insertion of small Ag NPs between the graphene sheets, the electrical conductivity of rGO/Ag NPs composites was significantly improved compared to rGO alone, with an enhancement factor of 346% at 40wt% of rGO. Moreover, the conducting path between rGO and Ag NPs formed because the structural defects in rGO were effectively repaired by decoration with Ag NPs. Subsequently, based on a screen-printed three-electrode system, a label-free EI for detecting prostate-specific antigen (PSA) was constructed using rGO/Ag NPs composites as a support material. The fabricated EIs demonstrated a wide linear response range (1.0–1000ng/ml), low detection limit (0.01ng/ml) and excellent specificity, reproducibility and stability. Thus, the proposed EIs based on rGO/Ag NPs composites can be easily extended for the ultrasensitive detection of different protein biomarkers. •rGO/Ag NPs composites with enhanced electrical conductivity were successfully prepared using the binary reductants.•Using rGO/Ag NP composites as electrode materials, a low-cost label-free electrochemical immunosensor was easily constructed.•The proposed PSA immunosensor exhibited a linear detection range 1.0–1000ng/ml and a low detection limit of 0.01ng/ml.