Composites of Bimetallic Platinum-Cobalt Alloy Nanoparticles and Reduced Graphene Oxide for Electrochemical Determination of Ascorbic Acid, Dopamine, and Uric Acid

The ultimate aim of this study is to produce a composite of bimetallic platinum-cobalt nanoparticles and reduced graphene oxide (Pt-Co@rGO) based biosensor for the detection of ascorbic acid (AA), dopamine (DA) and uric acid (UA). Those are biologically important molecules with the key functions for the human body. Pt-Co@rGO was synthesized using a microwave-assisted technique and utilized for the production of a highly sensitive and stable electrochemical biosensor. Detailed spectral XPS and Raman analysis, XRD, and TEM/HR-TEM characterization were also studied. Due to the superior activity and excellent conductivity of rGO, well-separated oxidation peaks of these biomolecules is proven by DPV (differential pulse voltammetry) and CV (cyclic voltammetry) measurements. The prepared Pt-Co@rGO-based biosensor showed high electrochemical activity, a broad linear response, high sensitivity, and acceptable limit of detection values for individual and simultaneous determination of AA, DA, and UA, under optimized conditions. The linear range of Pt-Co@rGO was found to be 170–200; 35–1500 and 5–800 µM for AA, DA, and UA, respectively. Moreover, the detection limit of the prepared composite was calculated as 0.345; 0.051; 0.172 µM for AA, DA, and UA, respectively. In the field of electrochemical biosensors, Pt-Co@rGO based sensor is highly promising due to its superior sensitivity and good selectivity properties.