Ultrathin Phthalocyanine-Conjugated Polymer Nanosheet-Based Electrochemical Platform for Accurately Detecting H₂O₂ in Real Time

Abstract

As a vital biological mediator and a widely used industrial oxidant, the accurate detection of hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂) is of significance for both academic purpose and practical applications. Herein, we report a novel approach for the development of a high-performance electrochemical H₂O₂ sensor constructed by iron phthalocyanine (FePc)-based diyne-linked conjugated polymeric nanosheets (NSs), FePc-CP NSs. The FePc-CP NSs were delaminated from the bulk material via a defect- and disorder-induced synthetic strategy. By the quasi-Langmuir-Shäfer method, the prepared FePc-CP NSs were self-assembled into multilayer films with controllable thickness on electrodes. Owing to the highly exposed active centers on the surfaces, the FePc-CP NS film-modified electrodes exhibited excellent H₂O₂ determination performance with a wide linear detection range (0.1-1000 μM), a short response time (the response current approached the maximum value within 0.1 s), a low limit of detection (0.017 μM), and excellent sensitivity (97 μA cm^-2 mM^-1), which are comparable to the best results reported so far for electrochemical H₂O₂ sensors. In addition, the fabricated electrochemical H₂O₂ sensor also displayed satisfactory stability, reproducibility, and selectivity. Furthermore, the obtained FePc-CP NS film sensor can be applied in real-time monitoring of H₂O₂ in commercial orange juice and beer as well as H₂O₂ secreted from A549 live cells, revealing its application potential toward the accurate detection of H₂O₂ in real-sample analysis.